Tuesday evening, the Wellington City Council conducted a work session at the Public Safety Building. One of their topics was vicious dogs in the city limits. In recent weeks, there has been discussion among the public on social media about what constitutes a vicious dog and what can be done about them.

The current ordinance that will voted on at a future council meeting states that a person violating any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment of not more than six months or both such fine and imprisonment.

Council Member Kevin Dodds commented on the proposed change to the ordinance, “I believe the proposed ordinance fixes a lot of ambiguity in our current ordinance and also gives our police department means of immediate recourse for animals that violate the ordinance. It also better defines the penalties for animal owners when their animal violates the ordinance. I believe this a positive step forward for our community.”

Council Member Joseph Soria was in agreement, saying he "agreed with what was proposed. Having Judge Korte there helped out."

For Council Member Jim Valentine, he has his own opinions on the issue, saying last week, “There are too many loopholes in the law.”

He said he was attacked recently, while riding his bike, by a German Shepherd with no collar and was not on a chain. Jim said he had to use his bike to protect himself. He compared getting bitten by a dog to “being slapped with barbed wire.” He said that if that had happened to a child, the ending could have been far different.

Jim claims he is not against animals, just the ones that are vicious. He wants an ordinance that is firm and fair. He said there is a problem in the city where people let their dogs loose in the mornings and let them run loose all day. He pointed out that animals, like people, are unpredictable.

Wednesday morning, he said the council “skirted the issue of deadly force.” He went on to say, “People are going to have to learn to be responsible. If they cannot be responsible, if they are going to let the animal do the crime, then they themselves will have to do the time.”

The Wellington City Council will be voting on this amended ordinance at its next meeting in November. It is something Valentine said he expects to pass easily.



