Do you live in Humboldt County and own a dog? Do you enjoy walking your dog along the city and/or county streets, or perhaps on our beautiful trail system? Are you ever concerned for the safety of your dog or, for that matter, your own safety? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you need to read the 2017-2018 Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury report titled “Dogs on the Run”. The report can be found at https://humboldtgov.org/Archive.aspx?ADID=1285.

The 2017-2018 civil grand jury investigated the conditions under which Humboldt County Animal Control, the city of Eureka Animal Control, and the city of Fortuna Animal Control function. They found evidence these agencies are understaffed for the job they must do, there was inconsistent adherence to policies and procedures, limited documentation of dog bite information was being provided to the Humboldt County Public Health Department and, most importantly, current animal codes are outdated and insufficient to handle present day enforcement.

The civil grand jury also found local residents had become increasingly affected by dog attacks over the past two years. They had reported being afraid to walk their leashed dogs in public places. Some felt it was not safe for children to ride bicycles and scooters or play in their own yards. One interviewee stated he felt no one really cared about the victims of dog attacks. Contrary to some public comments on news blogs, the civil grand jury found the majority of dog attacks come from dogs owned by housed people, not the homeless. They also learned it is not uncommon for a single dog to have been involved in multiple incidents across jurisdictions without consequence. In addition, only about 45% of the dogs involved in the 300 incident reports reviewed by the grand jury were vaccinated for rabies and even fewer were licensed. Many were not spayed or neutered.

The 2017-2018 civil grand jury presented nine findings and a like number of recommendations to the city of Eureka, the city of Fortuna, and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors which addressed possible solutions to improve local animal codes and ultimately the safety of our residents. For our discussion today, we will focus on findings F-2 thru F-4, and their corresponding recommendations.

These findings reported the need to update current animals codes to bring them more in line with current medical practices and the handling of potentially dangerous and vicious dogs. The civil grand jury report stated, “During our interviews there was unanimous agreement among animal control officers, public health employees, and victims of animal attacks that changes are needed in order to bring the codes up to date.”

How then have the county and the cities of Eureka and Fortuna responded to these findings/recommendations? The city of Eureka and the city of Fortuna both replied favorably to the need to update their animal codes and presented timelines to the Superior Court and the public to accomplish this.

The county Board of Supervisors, however, took exception to the civil grand jury findings and recommendations with regard to animal codes, and has gone on record as saying “Humboldt County Codes are continually revised and updated, and are current through Ordinance 2608, which passed on July 31, 2018.” Based on this response from the board, county animal codes were judged to be acceptable at this time, and no further action was necessary to rewrite any animal codes.

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jurors’ Association finds it concerning that animal control officers, county employees, dog bite victims and the cities of Eureka and Fortuna, all indicated that current animal codes should be updated, yet the board felt otherwise. Perhaps the board misunderstood the civil grand jury’s recommendation. The board’s reply indicates that county codes are current through July 31, 2018. The civil grand jury report was not challenging the administrative correctness of the county codes, but was recommending the board assign county departments to review all animal codes currently reflecting inadequacies based upon today’s medical practices and community safety.

No matter the reason for the board’s negative response, the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jurors’ Association believes the county should revisit their response, and assign appropriate departments to review and re-write the county animal codes.

Wayne Ventuleth authored this monthly column on behalf of the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jurors’ Association. For information on the Association email us: hccgja@gmail.com.