Mariemont council asks solicitor to draft leash ordinance after child attacked by off-leash dogs

The Village of Mariemont’s safety committee recommended that the village solicitor draft a new ordinance requiring dogs to be leashed in all public areas after a child suffered serious injuries in an attack by off-leash dogs at Anne Button Becker Park.

The recommendation, described during the council’s regular meeting, followed a committee review of the incident and local ordinances. Committee members and police officials said the current village ordinance (90.01) allows some off-leash areas and relies on vague voice-control rules that are difficult to enforce. The committee unanimously voted to ask Village Solicitor Egg McTig to prepare a draft ordinance and to consider increasing penalties for repeat offenses.

Why it matters: Council members said the existing ordinance provides less protection than neighboring communities and that the proximity of playground equipment to areas where dogs have run free raises public-safety concerns. Chief Rick Hines told the committee there have been multiple recent attacks on other dogs and that seniors also face elevated risk in some public areas.

Council discussion focused on where to draw lines between village-wide leash requirements and limited off-leash access. Some council members suggested designating limited, posted off-leash hours at the South 80 as a compromise, while others warned that allowing off-leash hours could let dogs with prior biting incidents continue to access the same spaces. "When you start delimiting certain types of dogs, you run down kind of a slippery slope," one member said, noting enforcement difficulties.

Chief Hines and other council members proposed practical enforcement tools such as stepped penalties for repeat citations and a registration system for dogs that use off-leash areas, ideas the solicitor will consider when drafting the ordinance. "If they've been cited, then right — is there a way to keep them from taking their dogs off leash down there?" one council member asked during the debate.

The council formally accepted the safety committee’s report and instruction to have the solicitor draft ordinance language for committee review. The draft ordinance will return to the safety committee for discussion before any formal vote by the full council.

The next steps: Ed McTig (solicitor) will prepare draft language for the safety committee to review at a future meeting. Council members said they expect further debate about possible off-leash hours, registration, and how to restrict access for animals with documented biting histories.