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Resident reports repeated dog attacks near Franklin Elementary, urges stricter enforcement
Summary
Resident Sarah Enix described four separate dog attacks near her home over six weeks, said some animals repeatedly escape the same owners’ yards, and asked the council to consider stricter enforcement measures and insurance requirements; a city official said staff will follow up with animal-control staff.
Sarah Enix, who gave her address as 3023 Avenue C, told the council she and her dogs were attacked on four separate occasions in about six weeks and described multiple animals repeatedly escaping from nearby properties.
Enix said the first incident occurred Dec. 23 and involved two American bulldogs that leaped a 4½-foot fence; emergency responders and neighbors intervened and no human was bitten. She said the dogs had been known to both Midland’s and animal-control staff and that one owner had previously received a citation, but the animals remained at the owner’s home and were observed running loose again.
She described two more incidents within a 15-minute span near her neighborhood and a later incident at the corner of 30 First and Dean that took place just as parents and children were leaving school. Enix described a black-and-white bull-type dog and an older yellow lab among the animals involved, and said one dog ran under a car to reach her puppy. She said her pets were not bitten but that repeated incidents have left her and her dogs traumatized.
Enix said she volunteers doing post-op care at Midland’s and fosters dogs; she said she opposes breed bans but urged the city to consider stronger enforcement for owners whose animals repeatedly escape and suggested requiring liability insurance for owners whose dogs are repeatedly found loose.
A presiding city official (unspecified) responded that if a dog bites another dog it may be designated a dangerous dog and can be kept only under certain restrictions that prevent escapes; the official said they would speak to Galen (identified in the meeting as animal-control staff) and invited Enix to call the office for follow up. The official provided a business card and said staff would look into the incidents.
Enix also said one of the problem properties is about a block from Franklin Elementary School and expressed concern that a child could be injured. No formal council action was recorded at the meeting; the exchange was part of the citizens-requesting-to-be-heard portion of the agenda.
