A dog from the Oxford Humane Society plays outside at the dog park on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013. Vince Davis, The Daily Mississippian.
Lafayette County officials have recently come to an agreement concerning the vicious animal ordinance proposed in December of last year.
On Jan. 16, Lafayette County’s first official law regarding the behavior of vicious animals was enacted by the board of supervisors.
County residents who own a dog that’s known to be vicious will be required to carry insurance and keep the dog inside their home or on a leash.
District IV Supervisor Chad McLarty said the board began discussing the ordinance about two months ago after a group of concerned citizens approached them stating they had recently dealt with issues involving violent dogs within the community.
Since talk of the ordinance began, three dog attacks have been reported in the county, two of which involved children.
“We can’t afford to sit around and wait until a dog kills somebody and then jump up and do something,” said Lafayette County Sheriff Buddy East in an earlier interview with The Daily Mississippian. “We need something in place to know what we as law enforcement can do and to what extent we can do it. We just need to take some kind of action.”
The recently adopted law was written with the help of local attorney David O’Donnell, the Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department and other county officials.
“It gives the sheriff’s department specific guidelines to follow whether the animal is collared or not,” McLarty said. “The state law just dealt with animals running at large that posed a threat. Then the justice court system will make the ruling if the animal is vicious and set fines accordingly.”
The new law states that all animals deemed vicious must be secured indoors or in a secure enclosure unless on a leash. The owner will be responsible for having liability insurance of no less than $100,000 that provides coverage for injuries or death caused by the animal.
In addition, after a violent incident occurs, the owner of the animal will be required to have the animal surgically microchipped and registered with the county.
McLarty said the ordinance does not discriminate against particular varieties of canines such as pit bulls, Rottweilers and other breeds typically associated with threatening behavior. Any dog that causes detrimental harm to a human or another animal could be regarded as dangerous.
“I hope it will make animal owners more responsible for animals with vicious tendencies,” McLarty said. “Aggressive animals need to be handled properly and not tied to a post with speaker wire.”
McLarty said a final copy of the ordinance will be posted on the Lafayette County website by the end of this week. County residents interested in finding out the specifics of the newly adopted law can visit www.lafayettecoms.com.
–Lacey Russell
llrusse2@go.olemiss.edu
