An inside look at 'vicious dog' hearings
| Saturday, Oct 10 2009 12:21 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 10 2009 12:21 PM
Bakersfield Municipal Code 6.05.090 Seizure, impoundment and destruction of dogs which are significant public threat.
If it is determined by an animal control officer that probable cause exists to believe any dog poses an immediate threat to public safety, then the animal control officer may enter any premises where the dog is kept, other than a place of residence or closed garage, to seize and impound the dog pending a hearing. If the dog is determined to be vicious and its release would create a significant threat to public safety, the city manager or his or her designee may issue an order that the director of animal control destroy the dog.
The small group of family and friends had no warning.
One moment they were enjoying a quiet Saturday beneath the shade of their open garage door. The next, two snarling pit bulldogs were biting and tearing at the underbelly of their 9-month-old "pound puppy" Gracie.
"They rolled her over and tried to eviscerate her," Leslie Dalton said of the attacking pit bulls.
"They went right for her gut," agreed Leslie's husband, Curtis Dalton.
By the time the attack was over, Gracie had suffered multiple bite wounds to her belly and chest, amounting to hundreds of dollars in emergency veterinary care.
Mr. Dalton also received a bite that bloodied his left hand, and strain injuries to his upper body -- suffered when he tried to pull the bigger pit bull off of Gracie.
Last week, the dog that led the attack went on trial -- sort of.
At an administrative hearing held Monday in Bakersfield's City Council chambers, the larger of the two pit bulls was found to be a "vicious dog" in a ruling by administrative hearing officer Mike Yraceburn.
"Owning a dog is not a right, it's a privilege," Yraceburn said during his ruling.
Dog ownership, he continued, is regulated by local government in the interest of public safety. People have a right to be safe in their own neighborhoods -- safe from uncontrolled dogs running loose.
Yraceburn ordered the dog's owner, 25-year-old Luis Robles, to construct a separate kennel enclosure in his back yard in southwest Bakersfield. He further ordered that the pit bull will only be allowed out of the back yard on a leash if the dog is under Robles' full control -- no one else's.
No other animals are allowed on these walks, Yraceburn said, to minimize the chance that the pit bull will take on a dangerous "pack mentality."
And finally, if Robles is found to be in violation of the limitations, his dog could be declared an immediate threat to public safety -- and possibly be destroyed.
Robles promised to license his dogs and comply with the restrictions imposed during the hearing.
He said he'd never had trouble with his dogs in the past, and that he had simply opened his gate and the dogs ran past him, getting loose.
"This should be a wake-up call to people," Mr. Dalton said, referring to the more than 2,400 dog bites that have occurred in Bakersfield and unincorporated Kern County since 2007.
Tammy Davis, animal control field supervisor for the city of Bakersfield, said administrative hearings are one way the city can flex its muscles in the area of animal control. About three hearings are held, on average, per month, Davis said
But until more people get the message that dogs can be dangerous unless they are obedience trained and socialized with other animals, innocent pets and people will continue to become victims of lightning-fast attacks by dogs.
By way of example, Davis recalled the case of an 11-year-old boy who was recently bitten in the face by a pit bull at a city park. The female owner of the dog had the pit on a leash, but when the dog suddenly lunged at the boy, the woman realized she had little or no control over her own dog.
"I talked to the owner," David said. "The dog had never acted like that before.
"When you take a dog out, unless it is super friendly, you never know what will happen," she said. "Buy a nice breed, not something that's going to be a potential weapon."
Another story involved a family friend, Davis said, and a dog with no violence in its history.
Yet in a split-second, faster than any human can react, the mastiff brutally attacked a youngster, causing serious facial injuries.
"It took two of us plus a Taser to subdue that dog," she recalled. "The dog had no history whatsoever."
After a few days of quarantine, the owner took the dog home.
"People really don't get it," Davis said. "That dog showed them what it can do that day."
