St. Marys committee considers stricter vicious dog ordinance

ST. MARYS - City officials on Monday night got their first look at a proposed vicious dog ordinance that focuses on pit bulls.

The street and sidewalks committee reviewed the rough draft of the ordinance - written by St. Marys City Law Director Kraig Noble - which contains stricter regulations for pit bull owners.

The full council likely will view the proposed ordinance at its next meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 10.

"This is just a proposal," Noble said, adding it can be modified.

The ordinance mirrors one the city of Lima already has in place that specifically focuses on regulations for owners of pit bulls.

City safety service director Gregory Foxhoven said police chief Mark Ernst recently spoke to Lima's law director and felt comfortable with the enforceability of the ordinance.

"It seemed to cover all the concerns," Noble said about Lima's ordinance.

One of the concerns committee members discussed was how a person could secure an outdoor kennel so a pit bull could not escape. The ordinance requires the sides of a structure be embedded into the ground no less than 1-foot deep.

"That's a good example of something that you might want to modify a little bit," Noble said.

Committee members said they felt the stipulation would be extremely hard to enforce.

Council president Daniel Hoelscher said it would be hard to tell if a fence was 1 foot into the ground by just looking at it. He felt the fence would have to be inspected during installation to confirm it met the depth requirement.

"There's got to be a way to secure the kennel because some people will just buy a kennel and just drop it in their yard, stick the dog in there, and say 'There you go,' " Foxhoven said. "It has to be embedded to some length that the council can agree to, or it has to be staked down in some fashion."

Staking a fence into the ground or embedding it was the same as building a fence, committee members said. Residents may have to obtain a permit according to the zoning ordinance, they added.

It was noted that several years ago a dog in the city dug out from under a fenced-in area and escaped. However, very few instances such as that have occurred since, committee members noted.

The committee proposed changing the ordinance language to require structures for dogs be secured in an acceptable fashion.

Committee members also discussed how many pit bulls were located within the city. Officials keep a tally by once-per-month visits to owners of pit bulls, who must show proof they have liability insurance for their animals.

In the past, insurance companies informed the city of the number of homeowners with pit bulls who had policies in effect, officials said.

Foxhoven said he was optimistic the new ordinance, if passed, would help city officials learn how many pit bulls are in St. Marys and where they are located.

The committee noted that some residents currently have more than one pit bull; the proposed ordinance allows for only one per home. Owners would have to be notified to remove excess pit bulls before the new ordinance goes into effect, officials said.

"I think once the language is fine-tuned and tweaked to where the committee is comfortable, then it will be presented to full council," Foxhoven said.