Residents express concern over dog known to cause problems
It’s not the bark Balaton residents are worried about, it’s the bite.
And some of them spoke out at Monday’s Balaton City Council meeting concerning a pit bull that has not only been seen running loose in town, but, according to one resident, has attacked another dog.
The issue wasn’t as much what can be done to ease residents’ concerns, but what will be done.
“It’s constantly on the loose; I understand it’s not the dog’s fault, but the owner’s fault,” said Travis Erickson, who on Monday filed one of numerous reports to the County.
Erickson was so outspoken Monday because he has been a front row spectator to the issue at hand. In June, he said, the dog attacked his dog in the street while he was being walked by Erickson.
“As it was growling and charging after my dog, I dropped to my knees, grabbed that dog by the neck, flipped it upside down and pinned it to the ground,” said Erickson. “It was trying to bite me and attacked my dog — it had multiple puncture wounds.”
Erickson said he took the dog down once again during the ordeal, and once again it got loose and resumed the attack on his dog. His wife then began kicking the dog, prompting it to run away.
“There were four or five people out there watching this happen,” Erickson said. “That dog was trying to kill my dog.”
Erickson said it has gotten to the point where his children are fearful of going outside the house, whether to let the family dog out or play. He said the Sheriff’s Department has made a number of trips to Balaton in response to Erickson’s calls.
“It doesn’t seem to change; nothing has changed,” he said. “It keeps getting out. Now it’s dragging its leash — I don’t think it’s fair that my kids can’t take our dog for a walk anymore. They can’t play outside.” Erickson said the dog was in his yard again Monday and that he has a video recording proving it. His daughter was out for just a a few seconds on Monday before rushing back into the house after seeing the loose dog.
According to Balaton City Code, any resident keeping a dog without a license or allowing a dog under his/her control to run at large is guilty of a petty misdemeanor. If a dog at any time has attacked or bitten a person outside the owner’s premises or is vicious or shows vicious habits, a judge can issue a summons directed to the owner commanding him to appear before court to show cause why the dog should not be seized by any police officer, or otherwise disposed of. Such summons shall be returnable not less than two or more than six days from the date thereof and shall be served at least two days before the time of the scheduled appearance. The court may either order the dog killed or order the owner to remove it from the city, or may order the owner or custodian to keep it confined to a designated place. If the owner violates such order, any police officer may impound the dog.
“I would like to see something happen, because it’s getting to the point where people are going to probably take care of it themselves,” Erickson said.
Another Balaton resident said Monday that the dog is chained up in the owner’s yard and is not fed on a regular basis. She said animal control needs to come to Balaton and seize the animal. Erickson agreed, saying the dog needs to be relocated to a place where it can be taken better care of.
“I’m a dog owner; I’ve had pit bulls in the past, and they were friendly with people, they were friendly with other dogs — they were amazing dogs,” Erickson said. “It’s not the dog, it’s the owner. It’s neglect. It’s getting to the point where my kids can’t play outside — that’s ridiculous.”
Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen, who said a citation was delivered to the owner of the dog Monday, said every city is responsible for finding an impoundment center if it doesn’t already have one. The City of Marshall does have an animal impoundment center, but Wallen didn’t believe they were very interested in taking in a dog from other cities, nor do they want to house a dog that might hurt other animals.
The City has in the past placed a “dangerous dog” designation on a dog in town, which essentially forces a homeowner to take provisions to prevent a dog from escaping the property.
“Maybe that’s something that we need to look at,” Balaton Mayor Lonnie Lambertus said.
City Attorney Matthew Gross said designating a dog dangerous is about as much as a council can do to address the issue; that is separate from any possible prosecution. If the homeowner fails to comply in a certain period of time, the City can order the dog to be seized, and, if neccessasry, put down.
“Do you have to wait until somebody gets hurt?” resident Lou Anderson said. “You’ve had multiple complaints. I don’t think you can afford to wait any longer; if it’s attacking a dog, what if a little kid is walking by?”
The council will make a decision on where to go next at a special meeting it set for Nov. 10.
In other business Monday …
• Southwest Initiative Foundation President Scott Marquardt addressed the council concerning The Borchert Challenge Endowment Fund. There are two funds that support the town — The Balaton Area Community Foundation, the other is The Borchert Challenge Endowment Fund.
Teresa Zaske, who sits on the BACF advisory board, said her confusion over an email she said the council received prompted her to reach out to Marquardt to provide some clarity regarding distributions from The Borchert Challenge Fund, which was established by a group of individual donors as an endowment fund at SWIF. In a letter handed out to the council Monday, Marquardt wrote that 100% of the annual distributions go to the City of Balaton to help maintain and improve high standards of the City’s parks, and include, but are not limited to, creating and maintaining recreational activity through the development of the park on Maple St. Any disbursements the City receives from the Borchert endowment needs to be requested. Marquardt said he would welcome the chance to return to a future council meeting to discuss the Borchert Fund, and the council invited Marquardt to the Nov. 10 meeting.
The City, he wrote, has full authority to decide how best to spend grant monies from the fund, but is welcome to consider input from donors and other community members on any decisions.
• The council set a Truth In Taxation date of Dec. 8 and 6 p.m.
• The council approved an ordinance regulating fences in town.
• ISG was hired by the council to represent the City as its engineering consultant and work on its behalf.
• The council agreed to extend a lease agreement with Hoek Outdoors for another year.
