| Subject: Shreveport, LA....BSL |
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Date Posted: 17:39:39 05/11/05 Wed
Shreveport council looks to control vicious dogs
May 10, 2005
By Don Walker
donwalker@gannett.com
Shreveport's City Council will vote today to put the leash on vicious dogs by considering an ordinance that mandates pens and leashes for them and even registration and insurance for their owners.
Councilman James Green had originally proposed the ordinance in April. However, Green postponed the vote when Caddo Parish Commissioner David Cox requested Green's input as part of a parishwide task force considering updates to the parish animal control laws. The task force has met but no official action has been
taken.
Green said Monday he was ready to pursue a vote on his own ordinance after a postal worker was bitten by a pit bull as he delivered mail in the 1500 block of Oakdale Street. The dog was never located, and the mail carrier was forced to undergo rabies shots.
"If you don't have a vicious dog it won't affect you," Green said. "It's time. We need to put something in place. This puts citizens on notice who have these dogs that they need to take care of them because one's life may be at stake."
Under Green's proposed ordinance, vicious dogs are defined as pit bulls, Rottweilers or similar breeds that, without provocation, have caused injury or killed humans or other dogs.
The ordinance will require vicious dogs to be muzzled and kept in a kennel or pen "unless such animal is outfitted with a choke or pinch collar and securely leashed with a substantial chain or leash no longer than four feet in length."
The handler of the dog on a leash must be at least 18 years old, and it is prohibited for the leash to be tied to trees, posts, buildings or fences.
The ordinance also requires pens or kennels to be secured by lock and at least 20 feet from any street or sidewalk, 10 feet from any property line. The structures would have to be inspected and approved by an animal control officer.
Green's ordinance also requires confinement of vicious dogs indoors -- not on a "porch, patio or any part of a house or structure that would allow the animal to exit such building of its own volition."
The owners would be required to register newly acquired vicious dogs with Shreveport police, pay a fee of $25 and provide proof of liability insurance of not less than $100,000.
The ordinance does allow for some exemptions, but only if the owner can provide evidence of certificate of obedience or temperament test under American Kennel Club guidelines.
__________________________________________________ _______________
http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/ Shreveport Website
505 Travis Street,
P.O. BOX 31109
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA 71130
Clerk of Council at 318-673-5262
or council@ci.shreveport.la.us
COUNCIL MEMBERS
calvin.lester@ci.shreveport.la.us
monty.walford@ci.shreveport.la.us
theron.jackson@ci.shreveport.la.us
thomas.carmody@ci.shreveport.la.us
mike.gibson@ci.shreveport.la.us
jeff.hogan@ci.shreveport.la.us
james.green@ci.shreveport.la.us
Calvin Ben Lester, Jr.
1850 Martin Luther King Dr., Ste C
Shreveport, LA 71107
318-425-4102 Business
318-673-5274 Fax
e-mail: calvin.lester@ci.shreveport.la.us
R.M. "Monty" Walford
P. O. Box 7586
Shreveport, LA 71137
318-222-5430 Business
318-673-5279 Fax
e-mail: monty.walford@ci.shreveport.la.us
Thomas G. Carmody, Jr.
180 Albany Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71105
318-865-5471 Residence
318-746-1700 Business
318-673-5271 Fax
email: thomas.carmody@ci.shreveport.la.us
Michael "Mike" Gibson
2025 Southern Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71104
318-222-2197 Business
318-673-5277 Fax
e-mail: mike.gibson@ci.shreveport.la.us
Jeffery "Jeff" A. Hogan
P.O. Box 17542
Shreveport, LA 71138
318-686-5222 Residence
318-671-1790 Fax
e-mail: jeff.hogan@ci.shreveport.la.us
Rev. James Edward Green
3742 Hollywood Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71109
318-636-1563 Residence
318-635-7118 Business
318-673-5276 Faxemail: james.green@ci.shreveport.la.us
Theron J. Jackson
610 Texas St., Ste 104
Shreveport, LA 71101
318-678-4684: Business
318-673-5270: Fax
email: theron.jackson@ci.shreveport.la.us
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