A woman urged the Abilene City Council Thursday morning to change and enforce the city’s dangerous dogs ordinance, contending she and her pup were attacked in their backyard last month.
Patricia Ditmore, with her service dog Buddy next to her, expressed her concerns to council members during the public comments section of the meeting.
“I have lived in my home 52 years, and I’m here to let you know our neighborhood is being terrorized by three pit bull dogs,” she said.
Ditmore detailed her experience with her neighbor’s dogs, airing her allegations and consternation about the incident.
She said the dogs chewed a hole through her fence and attacked Buddy — a Chiweenie. The vicious altercation resulted in an emergency veterinarian visit, eight bitemarks and three gun shots, she said.
“I fought them off with two lawn chairs, which did not phase the big male and that had Buddy in his mouth. Somehow, God placed a four-foot iron pipe in my hand, and I started hitting them on their heads,” Ditmore said.
Buddy and Ditmore made it inside the house with the dogs still not leaving, she said. Only after she brought out her gun did the dogs retreat back through the hole they created in the fence.
“I’m here today to ask this, that the city code on dangerous dogs be addressed immediately,” Ditmore said.
The term “dangerous dog” as defined by the city is “one that has been assigned to an animal that has been deemed dangerous under local and state codes.”
Qualifications that deem a dog as dangerous include:
- The dog must be outside of its enclosure and stray.
- Commits unprovoked acts that cause bodily injury to a person or serious bodily injury to a domestic animal.
- Commits acts that make a person reasonably believe the dog could attack and cause bodily injury.
She urged council members to remove the word “serious” in the second qualification of the ordinance.
“You need to remove that because either one bite or 50 bites, that’s dangerous. The aggressive, dangerous dog is the seriousness,” she said.
Ditmore had taken the proper steps to submit a report to animal services and police with hopes of the dogs being removed and taken to the shelter.
“I made the report. I took it to the police department, and they told me that they had to go to a committee, and then it would take six days to get back with me on the investigation,” she said. “Well, in the meantime, the dogs are still there, and I’m still there with my gun to go out.”
According to the ordinance, any person can write a statement about a dangerous dog to initiate an investigation through animal services. The animal may be impounded at the shelter during that time.
City Manager Robert Hanna provided some clarification about the situation and the steps being taken.
Hanna called the division manager of animal services Wednesday to find out why there had been a delay and found out the investigating officer had been out of office.
“They’re back today, and there will be a determination made on whether or not the dangerous dog language has been met or not. I don’t know the outcome of that, but we will certainly share that. As soon as I know it, you will be notified,” Hanna said. “The owner would at the very least receive a citation for a loose dog.”
He hopes the investigating officer comes to a dangerous dog determination,
“But I don’t know if they will, and I don’t get to influence that outcome. It’s just it’s based on what the facts are,” he said.
Hanna said he spoke to City Attorney Stanley Smith on Wednesday about making changes to the ordinances.
“We are working on ordinance revisions that will address some of the very concerns and recommendations you’ve made today. We’ll work diligently to bring that to council very quickly, so I appreciate your comments,” Hanna said.
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