Contra Costa County Dangerous Animal Ordinance Approved
I attended the public hearing for Contra Costa’s new Dangerous Animal Ordinance at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the county supervisors chambers in Martinez. The first thing that caught my eye when I got out of the car was the large number of parking spaces that were available around the county building. The last public hearing I was at on any kind of animal ordinance, there wasn’t a place to park for blocks.
It was the same at the public hearing. Two people spoke about the ordinance, a man and a woman. That was it. The hearing was finished.
(When only a few people show up for a much publicized public hearing on a new dangerous dog ordinance, in my opinion that indicates that most county residents support it.)
All five of the county supervisors spoke positively about the proposed ordinance. Glen Howell, the director of Animal Services, pointed out that Contra Costa was one of the few counties in the state that didn’t have a dangerous dog ordinance like this and he said this should have been done a long time ago.
It was moved that the proposed new Dangerous Animal Ordinance be adopted. It passed unanimously.
Once they get things fine-tuned and hammer out the appropriate fees and charges to cover the new ordinance (Dec. 13 supervisors meeting), the county Animal Services Department should finally have the tools to deal with dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs before they hurt someone, not after. That should make a lot of parents and dog owners happy.
Congratulations to the Contra Costa County Supervisors, and all others who had anything to do with putting this new ordinance together, for a job well done.
Posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
Under: Animals, Cats, Dangerous Animal Ordinance, dogs, Pets | 6 Comments »