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Any opinions. On This

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#1 ·
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<h2>Lancaster plans to take a bite out of crime</h2>
<h3>Mayor's message to gang members: Don't come here</h3>This story appeared
in the Antelope Valley Press
Tuesday, January 27, 2009.



By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer


<hr>
LANCASTER - The city's elected leaders may step up their war on crime today by
setting new rules, fines and costs for people who misuse potentially dangerous
dogs, particularly pit bulls and Rottweilers.


The move is intended to make life in Lancaster more unpleasant for people who
use such dogs for intimidation purposes, Mayor R. Rex Parris said.


"I am absolutely deadly serious when I say, 'If you are in a gang, do not
come to Lancaster, and if you are here, get out, because we are going to hurt
you,' " Parris said Thursday during a pre-meeting briefing with the media.


"I don't care about their civil rights. I don't care about being fair. If
(gang members) come to Lancaster, we will use every legal means at our disposal
to hurt them," he said.


Such comments have drawn threats against the City Council, spurring city
officials to post a guard at the door of the council's chamber during its public
meetings to check visitors for weapons.


The meetings also are attended by at least one sheriff's deputy and a
personal bodyguard for Parris.


The mayor said the city's new regulations should have a limited effect on
citizens who use their pet pit bulls and Rottweilers as show dogs.


"Let's be clear: It's designed to harass the gangs. It is designed to target
something they value and take it away from them," Parris said. "They value pit
bulls and Rottweilers, and they are using them as weapons. . That's where the
bulk of the enforcement is going to be."


Since enforcement will be driven in large part by complaints, people who keep
their pets in their home, in their yards and in their control should never get a
visit by a city code enforcement officer about their dogs, he said.


"We won't be going in anybody's back yards looking for these dogs. It's going
to be the dogs on the streets," the mayor said. "If it's a show dog and if it's
(American Kennel Club) registered, that's a different situation. There will be
exemptions."


The ordinance, if adopted, will require spaying or neutering for pit bulls
and Rottweilers, including mixed-breed animals that exhibit the predominant
physical characteristics of those breeds.


Exceptions could be made for dogs that are considered at risk of not
surviving a spaying or neutering procedure.


Some people have objected to having the ordinance target specific breeds for
neutering or spaying, contending gang members will simply abandon their pit
bulls and Rottweillers and misuse other breeds instead.


The ordinance targets any dog that, when unprovoked, engages in "any behavior
that requires a defensive action by any person to prevent bodily injury when the
person and the dog are off the property of the owner or custodian" of the
animal, a copy of the regulation shows.


The ordinance also targets any dog that, when unprovoked, "bites a person or
otherwise engages in aggressive behavior" that causes injury as well as a dog
that, when unprovoked, "has killed, seriously bitten, inflicted injury or
otherwise caused injury to a domestic animal off the property of the owner or
custodian" of the animal.


The ordinance further targets dogs that have been trained to attack other
animals or people or that have done so without training.


The owners of such dogs would be served with a notice to appear at a public
hearing, where evidence could be presented against the owner and in the owner's
defense.


If the hearing officer finds a dog to be a menace, the owner could be
required to:


Have the animal spayed or neutered at the owner's expense.


Obtain microchip implants and vaccinations for the animal at the owner's
expense.


Keep the animal indoors or in a securely fenced yard or enclosure constructed
at the owner's expense.


Make the animal wear a muzzle and a 4-foot-long leash held by a controlling
adult when taken off the owner's property.


Arrange for the animal to complete an approved obedience course at the
owner's expense.


Owners of dogs defined as "potentially dangerous" could be required to pay a
fine of up to $500 for each basis upon which the animal was deemed dangerous.


Owners of dogs defined as "vicious" could be required to pay a fine of up to
$1,000 for each basis upon which the animal was deemed vicious.


If an animal is determined to be too dangerous to return to the owner, it may
be destroyed.


An owner also may be required to obtain liability insurance for dogs that
would cover payments on damages up to $300,000 per incident.


An owner will be able to appeal the municipal hearing officer's rulings to
Superior Court, but the city may require the advance payment of a monetary
deposit before the appeal is filed.


In some cases, an owner may be prohibited from owning any kind of dog for up
to three years.


After restricting gang-member ownership of dangerous dogs, city officials
intend to explore ways to impound the cars of gang-affiliated criminals and "to
make it child abuse to have a child in the home of a gang-banger," Parris said.


The goal is to adopt a city ordinance empowering the state Department of
Children's Services to take into protective custody children found living in
homes with gang members, he said.


The City Council will consider approving its new animal-control ordinance
when it meets at 5 p.m. in its chambers at 44933 Fern Ave.


The measure would become effective 30 days after approval.


bwilson@avpress.com</div>
 
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#2 ·
Well, this is a novel way to deal with gangs. I like the fines that would be imposed, but I don't like the overall condition of having all these dogs spayed or neutered. It is unclear in the article as to how they would make The differentiation as to what dogs should be spayed/neutered, and which would not be. (At least unclear to me.) However, rotties and pitties should not be singled out. The article specifically mentions them, and then mentions 'any dog that when unprovoked......(and then mentions several behaviors). What also need to be clearer are the criteria that would be used to determine if a dog is dangerous. It is simply in the subjective determination of a police officer, or will there be some specific guidelines to follow.


I was glad to see there was recognition for show and competition dogs, and AKC registration. Certainly, most of the dogs that are acquired by criminals probably don't have a registered pedigree behind them. And most people who have pets very wisely do have them spayed/neutered.


It will be interesting to see how this is inforced. And I am also interested in reading other comments about this. Reno - what are YOUR thoughts?
 
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