After a recent dog attack that hospitalized two people, residents are concerned about their safety. Haley Mnick found out what the city of Dallas is doing to decrease the number of loose dogs and loose dog bites.
Just Save the Dogs Founder Stephanie Timko said that loose dogs in Dallas is a culture issue.
“You will hear a lot from our city authorities is that you know the southern Dallas area was primarily agricultural for a long time and people would allow their dogs just to run and roam,” Timko said. “It has much more of a country feel to it”.
Dallas has seen its fair share of loose dogs. However, majority of the loose dog bites are reported in areas of southern Dallas.
“A majority of the time the bites occur because the animal escapes the property,” Dallas Animal Services Field Service Manager Ann Barnes said.
At this month’s Animal Advisory Commission meeting, Dallas Animal Services employees discussed the data they collect for this year’s third quarter. They found out that there has been a 16 percent decrease in loose and loose dog owned bites than in last year’s third quarter.
“We get on to some things here with how we are utilizing our aggressive dog team, and we are getting out there and putting goals on decreasing dog bites,” Dallas Animal Services Director Edward Jamison said.
Last year, Dallas City Council approved a new pet law that now holds people responsible for their animals who run loose and bite others. The new law states that “it is now a criminal offense to allow an unsecured dog to make an unprovoked bite causing bodily injury to a person, domestic animal, or livestock.”
Barnes said that citations are now written under the owner’s history and not the dog’s.
“If that person goes and gets another dog and there’s another bite, we already have that previous bite on that owner,” she said.
In order to decrease the amount of loose dogs and loose dog bites, Dallas Animal Services needs the public’s help.
“That’s the message that needs to get out there. Dog owners need to be responsible for their dogs,” Barnes said. “There is no reason that a dog should not be on a leash or confined.”
