The Charles County Commissioners on Tuesday held a work session to unveil some proposed changes to the animal regulations in the county. Bill Stephens, director of Charles County Emergency Services, and Ed Tucker, chief of Charles County Animal Control Services, presented the plan to the commissioners in Tuesday’s work session.
Among some of the proposed regulations were: changes to the definition of “animal fancier” to include persons taking care of animals, changes to the definition of owner to include anyone who allows animals to stay on their property, changes to licensing fees, and changes to vague regulations about how dogs would be sheltered in certain conditions during certain seasons.
What drew the ire of residents was when the discussions began to declare “potentially dangerous” the “bully-breed dogs – Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Bulldogs.
While the animal control officials said family pets are not the concern, they said they were concerned about “large dogs” that are kept outside. Some of the proposed regulations include: length of the leash the dogs must be kept on, a large “Dangerous Dog” sign must be made visible at homes where dogs are left outside, the dogs must be micro chipped and any loose dog must be reported to police.
The recommendation made to the commissioners was to determine that the four breeds and other pit bull mixed breeds are potentially dangerous. Some residents say that “blanket regulation” such as that should apply to all dogs, especially those of the Rottweiler breed.
There was some confusion prior to the work session regarding muzzling dangerous dogs. The discussion of regulations for “potentially dangerous dogs” led some animal rights groups to believe that Pit breed dogs would be required to be muzzled when they are in public. Animal control services Chief Ed Tucker told The Bay Net that’s not the case. Tucker says that existing regulation states that if a board finds an animal is dangerous, it must be muzzled when it is in public and that there is no change to existing regulation.
“The Humane Society of Charles County does not support the singling out of any breed for special or unique treatment for any reason,” Shara Hendler, board member of humane society said. “Suitable safety measures must be taken for the handling of dogs that have been shown to be dangerous. The revisions to the animal control regulations as proposed contained many more provisions than those relating to Pit bulls which are not supported by the humane society at this time.”
“Not all dogs need to fall under that (dangerous dog) blanket,” resident Tom Miles said. “Specifically identifying the Pit bull or Pit bull type dog to fall under that blanket but not the other dogs that have the potential to be just as dangerous is unfair to the dogs and the owners. If this was a two legged individual, we would be up in arms over it. We call it racial profiling. Police can’t do this or tha
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