City giving zero tolerance on loose dogs in Smithville

Havre Animal Control Officer Peter Federspiel said Thursday he is starting a zero-tolerance policy in the Smithville area of Havre to the southwest due to the large number of dog bites that have been happening in that area.

“Dogs in that area are putting people at risk and we just hope that it stops,” he said.

He said the police don’t usually section off certain areas but because it is such a high-risk area with a high number of at-large dogs that are aggressive or vicious, they need to be more forceful in Smithville. He added that what citations are issued will be at officer discretion and function on a case-by-case basis.

He said in the Smithville area, a large number of dog bites have been reported as well as cats that were killed.

Typically the city of Havre has about 10 dog bites reported in the entire year, but in the last month, just in the Smithville area, five cases have been reported, he said, the most recent one, the victim was a 5-year-old child who was bit Wednesday, who, because of the individual’s age, could not be named.

“We need to do something about the dogs causing a danger to the community,” he said.

He said that the child Wednesday did not receive a severe bite, the bite only creating a small puncture. He added that the four other cases in the past month have also not been serious cases, although something needs to be done before someone gets seriously hurt.

“You never know when it could get even worse than what they have been,” Federspiel said.

In a Facebook post Thursday morning, Federspiel noted that “All dogs must be on a leash or contained on the owner’s property. All dogs must have city registration tags along with a rabies tag.”

The post added that the owner or caretaker of any dog found at large in this area will be issued citations for all animal-related offenses and the citations will be in addition to any other shelter fees.

Federspiel said Thursday afternoon that it would be ideal if the problem could be fixed without having to issue any citations, but because of the danger to the community something needs to be done.

Starting immediately the Smithville area will have a mandatory citations for pet owners whose dogs are at large, the rest of the city will operate as normal, he said.

Normally, if someone’s dog is a repeat offender, the owner will receive a citation and the police will try to work with people to make sure their dogs are not running loose. But for the moment law enforcement needs to take a tougher stance with the issues in the Smithville area.

For having a dog at large, the penalty for a first offense is no less than a $100 fine, Federspiel said. He added that the fines tier up for every offense up to the fourth or subsequent offense, which is a fine no less than $250.

Penalties for a dog bite is more severe, he said. First offense, the owner is fined no less than $300 and has to post a $50,000 surety bond or liability insurance. The judge can also decide if the animal needs to be banned from city limits or euthanized. For a second offense, the owner has to pay no less than $500 and the animal is either banned from the city limits or court-ordered euthanized.

Federspiel said people can better contain their animals by properly training their animals and having a properly built fence.

“We just hope that everybody in that area can somehow confine their dogs to keep people from getting bitten,” he said.