Heated Discussion at Neillsville City Council Meeting Over Vicious Dogs Ordinance
Thursday, October 15th, 2015 -- 1:04 PM
-The Neillsville City Council had a heated discussion with some residents in attendance about the new vicious dogs ordinance.Under the current ordinance, a person can have a dog that's deemed vicious as long as they meet certain criteria. Under this new ordinance, any dog deemed vicious can be removed from the city by the Neillsville Police Department. The department will make the determination as to whether or not the dog is vicious and the owner can appeal the decision to the city council within 5 days. As Chief Klueckmann stated during the meeting, of the 300 dogs registered in the city, only a few have been deemed vicious. There is one dog in particular, located on Bruley Street in Neillsville, which brought about this change. The Neillsville Police Department has said there have been 5 different reports of this dog biting people. Chief Klueckmann said he takes this very seriously and the ordinance was modeled after similar ordinances in other cities including Eau Claire.
The owner of the dog in question was at the council meeting. She stated that the dog belongs to her son who is currently overseas. She said she's not going to call her son and tell him he has to take his dog. She claims that the dog only bit someone once and further stated that a doctor told her that it wasn't even a bite, it was just a scratch. She also accused one of the council members of not getting all the facts because of his statement reported in the paper about the 5 bites. The councilmen asked the owner if the 5 people were lying about getting bit. She stated over and over again that 5 people were not bit and she said she had signatures from all her neighbors stating they don't have a problem with the dog.
She went on to say that the dog is much better, it's been getting training by a man in Marshfield and they even built a fence around their yard. Chief Klueckmann pointed out that the fence was a request of the insurance company and not the city. The owner went on to say that since the new ordinance has been discussed, they've received threats to remove the dog from the city and have had poisoned meat thrown into their yard. She also said a city official, though she wouldn't name who, told her they had it coming when she reported the poisoned meat.
Another resident present wondered why this dog on Bruley Street ended up causing the ordinance change. He said that his son was savagely bit in the face by a dog two years ago and that individual is still allowed to have hers. In the end, the council tabled the ordinance until their next meeting so the city attorney could add wording to it making it clear that the Neillsville Police Department can seize a dog deemed vicious after 5 days if it hasn't been removed from the city and an appeal hasn't been filed.
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