By Ben Rodgers
Editor
HOBART – The Hobart village board adopted an ordinance May 7 that will give law enforcement in the village more structure when dealing with vicious animals.
“My only concern was that the old ordinance did not have much detail on a description of an animal that is deemed dangerous or a definition of what dangerous or vicious meant,” said Randy Bani, Hobart/Lawrence police chief. “It didn’t list out any of the steps to be followed by law enforcement or the owner of such an animal in the event when there is a dog bite.”
Previously, if a resident informed law enforcement of a dog bite, it was up to the responding officer to make a decision if the dog was dangerous or vicious.
Bani said the new ordinance provides a clear protocol when dealing with a potentially vicious or dangerous animal.
“If someone calls us, we’re going to go and try to locate that dog and we’re going to try and locate the owner, and if we do so, we’re going to notify the owner,” Bani said. “We’re going to make a report on the animal and the victim that was bit. We’re going to notify Brown County Health and we’re going to try and determine if that dog has done anything like this in the past. If there is a pattern of an animal being dangerous or vicious, or if it’s been determined the animal came here from another community, it will be removed and/or put down if need be.”
For the first instance of a dog bite, the owner will be notified and the dog must be quarantined with the owner or on the owner’s property for 10 days.
The dog must also have two veterinarian visits and the vet must sign off on the dog not being dangerous.
If a second instance were to occur, that’s when law enforcement can determine if the dog is habitually dangerous or vicious.
“What this ordinance does, it certainly helps us go through a lot of different steps in the process and details those steps a lot better than the old ordinance,” Bani said.
He also said that if a dog is provoked, or the dog is acting in defense of its owner, that would not count as an instance.
Because Hobart and Lawrence share a law enforcement agency, Bani will go before the Lawrence town board and request it enacts the same or similar ordinance.
He also said the village or law enforcement has no prejudice against any specific dog breeds.
“We’re not going to target a breed,” Bani said. “…We’re going to take it one dog at a time and not determine that a whole breed is bad because of one bad apple.”