In response to the flood of e-mails and calls we received because of the November “Monkey Chronicles – Canine Clashes,” the NFH contacted the sheriff’s department to discuss its policies concerning domestic animal complaints.Many of the respondents to “Canine Clashes” referenced situations where deputies were inconsistent, like the woman who called the sheriff’s department numerous times because her neighbor’s dogs continually wandered onto her property threatening her own dogs, even injuring one of her dogs. The caller said the deputies refused to come out, telling her to “get a gun and shoot the neighbor’s dogs.”County Sheriff Terry Maketa was not available for comment; however, his public information officer, Lt. Cliff Northram, did discuss the sheriff’s policy regarding dog-related incidents.First, Northram said there are two laws that deputies reference when they are making decisions about a particular situation. One is a county law and the other is state. The state law, which was used in the Canine Clashes incident, is broad and allows deputies to make determinations based on “unlawful ownership of a dangerous dog.” “Both laws allow for an individual officer’s discretion,” Northram said. The officers take action depending on who responds, what is observed and what information is gathered.”The officer is not the judge or the jury and many times the cases are not cut and dried, and that is why we have juries and judges,” Northram said. He did say that under the state law, a dog/owner who has been involved in an incident while the dog remained on his own property can claim affirmative defense.”We don’t actively seek out situations involving dogs,” he said. “People don’t have to worry about that.” However, Northram said that even if a dog is on its own property and someone is hurt because he or she has come onto the property for a legitimate reason, the deputies would respond, if called.But what if the intruder is another dog?Again, Northram said each situation is different and “it’s up to the discretion of the officers.”Are officers trained in animal-related issues? Northram said the sheriff’s department offers training on animal issues periodically. “It’s not a consistent thing – we don’t offer this training every year, and many new deputies have not dealt with situations like this before,” he said.In the end, Northram said the sheriff’s department would prefer that people “acted neighborly” and handled the situation on their own. “However, if we are called, we have an obligation to come,” he said.The NFH reader who was told by the deputies to shoot the neighbor’s dogs would find the department remiss in their obligations, however.But maybe there is hope for consistency.Apparently, a few deputies read the “Monkey Chronicles – Canine Clashes.” Northram had read the editorial before he talked to the NFH. His response: “I believe in the freedom of journalism.” And that freedom allows us to question and even, at times, remake government’s actions and unjust laws.
