Ocracoke Unleashed
The law reads as such:
-
Sec. 4-7. - Vicious animals.
It shall be unlawful for any person to permit his animal to run at large if such animal is vicious or has in the past been deemed vicious by a county animal control officer. In such cases, the owner of such animal or person harboring such animal, shall not permit such animal to leave the premises on which it is kept, unless it is on a leash and in the care of a responsible person. In the event of injuries caused by the vicious animal, the animal's owner shall be liable as provided by law.
(Ord. No. 165, § 6, 4-7-2008)
-
Sec. 4-8. - Animals that are public nuisance.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to permit his animal to run at large if such animal has been deemed a public nuisance in writing by a county animal control officer. In such cases, the owner must keep the animal on his property at all times unless the animal is effectively leashed and under the control of a competent person.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to permit his animal to habitually bark for an unreasonable length of time or to bark at night and constantly annoy the public.
(c)It shall be unlawful for any person while harboring, walking, riding, in possession of or in charge of, a dog, horse, or other domesticated animal, on public property or public right of way, or any private property without the permission of the private property owner, to allow their animal to soil or defile said property. Every owner shall have in his or her possession a bag or other container that closes, which is suitable for removing feces deposited by the animal. For horses or other large domesticated animals, the animal must be equipped with a manure catcher to immediately prevent manure from soiling or defiling above referenced locations.
(Ord. No. 165, § 7, 4-7-2008; Amd. of 5-21-2012)
So the upshot is that no new law is needed.
County manager Bill Rich commented that most dogs on Ocracoke are good dogs, and that the county has "a means to deal with vicious animals in the existing ordinance on the books." Bill feels that compromise is the best course to follow in this case.
Ruth Fordon modified the statement she read at the commissioners meeting to reflect this new-found information about the existing ordinance.
"We need to establish an enforceable leash law that has some bite (no pun intended)," she said. "We want owners held responsible for their dog's actions."
Ruth went on to explain that the leash law is not aimed at dog owners who have control of their dog, but when Terry Lukefahr's cat was killed on December 27th, "there seemed to be nothing the sheriff's deputies could do about it."
Her request on behalf of the 137 people who signed the leash law petition was for the Hyde County commissioners to make the existing ordinance's enforcement stronger, with "rules and penalties that are compelling and effective."
"There needs to be a recourse for people who have issues with vicious dogs," she said.
Original article:
A possible canine leash law is on the agenda for the Jan. 5th commissioners meeting.
Ocracoke resident Terry Lukefahr is circulating a petition to ask the Hyde County Board of Commissioners to adopt a leash law for Ocracoke village. (You can find it at the PO, library, and Variety Store.)
“It’s about accountability, responsibility, and safety,” she said.
The National Park Service requires that all dogs visiting Federal property (yes, that means the beach) be leashed at all times, but in the village, many dogs roam free. A state law requires that all dogs be contained from sunset to sunrise, but North Carolina allows county and local governments to enforce it as they choose.
The Hyde County commissioners meet tonight (January 5th) at 6pm in the Ocracoke School commons and will hear public comment about the possibility of a leash law.
“I don’t expect [a leash law] to be strictly enforced,” Terry said. The intent is to provide some accountability from the dog’s owner when a dog’s behavior is harmful or aggressive.
Terry had a recent personal experience that compelled her to action. She works at Ocracoke Island Realty and helps care for the office’s adopted cats. On the 27th of December, during daylight hours, a neighborhood dog came onto the OIR property and killed Monkey Head, a black tom that Terry particularly loved. Terry found tufts of black fur on the OIR porch and property, so she knows he was attacked on his home turf.
“He was a special cat – a pet – not just a feral cat,” Terry said. “That cat was just awesome, and I’m very angry and upset.
A witness identified the dog as one that Terry had seen chasing cats before. She contacted the owner, who denies her dog’s involvement. Since then, Terry has seen the same dog wandering around the village without its humans.
Terry’s “using her anger and pain to fuel a leash law on Ocracoke,” which she sees as long overdue. “Anytime we’ve had a dog that killed chickens or ducks or cats – nobody’s done anything about it.”
After Monkey Head was killed, Terry called Deputy Jason Daniels (who’s had his own troubles with free-roaming dogs attacking his chickens) and he suggested she talk to Ocracats, a non-profit organization that feeds, spays/neuters, and cares for the island’s feral cat population.
With help from Ocracats, Terry got a leash law discussion on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.
“It will be open for public discussion,” she said. “We’re gathering support.” By the time we talked on Friday, Terry had six pages of signatures on the petition she’ll present to the commissioners. Some of the signees are visitors and off-island property owners, who mostly hail from places where leash laws are non-controversial.
“More and more people are bringing their dogs on vacation every year,” she said. “It’s just as crowded in the village as on the beach; this will provide protection all around for everybody. Protection from vicious dogs and protection for non-vicious dogs.”
Terry knows there’ll be opposition, but she plans to keep on fighting.
County manager Bill Rich expects there to be a lot of people coming out tonight to make public comments about a possible leash law, including Ocracats board member Ruth Fordon.
“There’ve been a couple of attacks lately,” he said. “I think they’ve got a reasonable request.”
Bill will provide the commissioners with some background information about how leash laws work in other counties.
Ocracoke’s representative commissioner John Fletcher said, “Leash laws are all right, but I have a few questions: Who’s going to enforce it? Where will we build the pound to keep all the animals? Who will pay for it and for the people who take care of the animals?”
John also feels that any leash law that Ocracoke would adopt should apply to ALL animals, be they dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, geese, or even his own guineafowl. He’s not sure if the law would have to be countywide, in which case, there would need to be exceptions written for hunting and working dogs.
“We should have a license system to own dogs or cats,” he said. “The money would pay for the cost of a pound and for enforcement. I would want a leash law to include all sorts of animals and we’d need a place to keep them.”
John is no fan of feral cats. “Cats kill baby birds – chickens and songbirds, rabbits, snakes, lizards, toads. They’re bad for the environment, except for eating rats and mice. Feral cats are destructive; I really do think they are more of a problem,” he said.
Not only that, but they pee on his porch rocker cushions.
“The cat problem is being addressed,” said Ruth Fordon. “Through the Ocracats spay/neuter program, we’re decreasing the feral cat population over time because those cats aren’t replacing themselves. That’s being managed.” Indeed, Ocracats has neutered or spayed and given rabies vaccinations to nearly 600 cats over the last 4 years.
Terry thinks the difference between cats and dogs is ownership. “The feral cats aren’t owned by anybody. There’s an organization of volunteers trying to take care of them, but they don’t own the cats.”
Dogs are different. “Every dog on this island was brought here by somebody. Every dog is owned by a person who made the decision to have a dog,” she said.
Ruth will speak at the commissioners meeting tonight, and read a statement clarifying that no one is hoping for a law that targets all dog owners.
An excerpt: “This leash law is not aimed at people who own dogs and who do have control of their dog’s behavior when not on their own property. This leash law would primarily be used when the need for control of a free roaming dog is evidenced by complaints to the authorities in charge of enforcement. As it stands now, there is nothing the sheriff’s deputies can do if a dog comes onto personal property and kills cats, ducks, chickens or other domestic animals sheltered on that property.”
