Post by michele5611 on May 14, 2013 15:19:26 GMT -5
www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/westwego_introduces_its_propos.html
In what turned out to be an anticlimactic evening for the standing-room-only crowd in the Westwego City Council chamber Monday, City Councilman Glenn Green introduced his proposal to strengthen the city's pit bull ordinance. It was strictly a procedural matter, called the "first reading," in which the ordinance's title was read aloud and set for a public hearing and a vote in July.
The Westwego City Council does not expect to take action before the July 8 meeting, Green said. He asked for public input before then.
"I'm getting a lot of calls, and I really expect everybody's opinion on this," Green told the audience, which included a film crew working on a show for cable television's Animal Planet, called "Pit Bulls and Parolees 5."
Green had said earlier Monday that he hoped the vote would happen in June. But he opted to wait until July, when the three incoming council members, Norman Fonseca, Johnny Nobles Jr. and Garrison "Gary" Toups, have taken office. Their inauguration is June 30.
Green sought the ordinance in response to the March 14 mauling of Linda Henry, 54, who was attacked by three of her own four pit bulls inside their Avenue A home. She lost an eye, an ear and much of her scalp in the attack, and the dogs chewed her arms so severely that doctors amputated them. Green has invited her to appear at the July city council meeting.
The ordinance, written by City Attorney Joel Levy, would build on the municipal law the city enacted in 2000, after a 2-year-old boy was fatally mauled by his family's pit bull in their backyard just outside Westwego city limits.
According to the proposed ordinance, pit bull owners would be required to get licenses from the city, and owners would have to be 21 or older and obtain at least $100,000 in liability coverage through their homeowner's or renter's insurance, according to the proposal. Owners would have to post warning signs outside their homes.
The proposal defines a pit bull as an American pit bull terrier, an American Staffordshire terrier, a Staffordshire bull terrier or "any dog displaying the majority of physical traits or genetic markers of any one or more of the above breeds." DNA testing would be done to determine whether the dog fits the description, according to the proposal.
Penalties for attacks by such a dog include a fine of at least $500, no more than six months in jail and, unless the owner can prove that the dog has been given to someone outside the city, the dog could be killed.
The proposal is not available for public review at City Hall. But Green said people can access it through him at City Hall. "If they ask for a copy, I'll give it to them," he said.
He said the ordinance is aimed at pit bull owners, not the dogs themselves. "I don't want people to think I'm singling out dogs," he said. "If you control your animal, you shouldn't have a problem."
In what turned out to be an anticlimactic evening for the standing-room-only crowd in the Westwego City Council chamber Monday, City Councilman Glenn Green introduced his proposal to strengthen the city's pit bull ordinance. It was strictly a procedural matter, called the "first reading," in which the ordinance's title was read aloud and set for a public hearing and a vote in July.
The Westwego City Council does not expect to take action before the July 8 meeting, Green said. He asked for public input before then.
"I'm getting a lot of calls, and I really expect everybody's opinion on this," Green told the audience, which included a film crew working on a show for cable television's Animal Planet, called "Pit Bulls and Parolees 5."
Green had said earlier Monday that he hoped the vote would happen in June. But he opted to wait until July, when the three incoming council members, Norman Fonseca, Johnny Nobles Jr. and Garrison "Gary" Toups, have taken office. Their inauguration is June 30.
Green sought the ordinance in response to the March 14 mauling of Linda Henry, 54, who was attacked by three of her own four pit bulls inside their Avenue A home. She lost an eye, an ear and much of her scalp in the attack, and the dogs chewed her arms so severely that doctors amputated them. Green has invited her to appear at the July city council meeting.
The ordinance, written by City Attorney Joel Levy, would build on the municipal law the city enacted in 2000, after a 2-year-old boy was fatally mauled by his family's pit bull in their backyard just outside Westwego city limits.
According to the proposed ordinance, pit bull owners would be required to get licenses from the city, and owners would have to be 21 or older and obtain at least $100,000 in liability coverage through their homeowner's or renter's insurance, according to the proposal. Owners would have to post warning signs outside their homes.
The proposal defines a pit bull as an American pit bull terrier, an American Staffordshire terrier, a Staffordshire bull terrier or "any dog displaying the majority of physical traits or genetic markers of any one or more of the above breeds." DNA testing would be done to determine whether the dog fits the description, according to the proposal.
Penalties for attacks by such a dog include a fine of at least $500, no more than six months in jail and, unless the owner can prove that the dog has been given to someone outside the city, the dog could be killed.
The proposal is not available for public review at City Hall. But Green said people can access it through him at City Hall. "If they ask for a copy, I'll give it to them," he said.
He said the ordinance is aimed at pit bull owners, not the dogs themselves. "I don't want people to think I'm singling out dogs," he said. "If you control your animal, you shouldn't have a problem."
I look forward to learning much here