We forget that every law, every ordinance, has consequences — and sometimes disastrous life-altering ones. All it takes is to be on the wrong side of one city ordinance to have your property taken or even be thrown in jail. For example, your dog could bite your neighbor’s dog.
A constituent contacted me recently about the way she was treated in regard to an animal-control incident. Given the unusual nature of the incident, I decided to visit the couple at their home.
Theirs was your typical Midwestern suburban house — two-car garage, green lawn and a well-kept house surrounded by homes of a similar type and architecture. The family was your model family. The constituent was a former elementary school teacher now working from home, raising young children. Her husband, principal of an elementary school, answered the door.
A really lovely family. I was invited to sit down at their dining room table as they described what had happened on a mid-July day in 2017.
The neighbor’s dog had wandered into their yard, specifically the portion of the driveway that intersects the sidewalk. The couple’s own dog, being a bit old and defensive of the children in the garage, bit the neighbor’s dog without warning. The bite was severe enough that the dogs were taken to the nearby veterinarian. Both would be fine, the vet said. The owner of the dog that had done the biting agreed to pay the bill for both dogs, and there weren’t any hard feelings about the incident between the neighbors.
But this wasn’t just a matter between neighbors. Our city has an ordinance that requires every veterinarian to inform Animal Control of all dog bites. Both dogs had to be quarantined, a sentence that can be served at home for first offenders. The ordinance also requires that all dogs that have bitten another dog or a person be microchipped in order to track the number of bites. Any dog caught biting three times is euthanized by order of the city — three strikes, you’re out. Finally, all owners of dogs that bite can be fined and ordered before a judge for sentencing.
After the dogs received their microchips, the bills were paid and everyone was on their way. But a few days later an official letter came from Animal Control informing the dog owner that she would need to appear at a hearing.
Thinking everything had been settled, she called to clarify. Two tickets had been issued, one for not getting the dog microchipped, which was in error (the dog had received a microchip, but the vet forgot to notify Animal Control) and another for having a dog that bit another dog. After a telephone conversation with an Animal Control agent, it was my constituent’s understanding that she was not needed in court after all.
A few days later, though, a more ominous letter came from the county sheriff’s department: a warrant for her arrest. Failure to appear is only a misdemeanor but it is still a criminal charge that could potentially damage the career of a teacher.
The couple went down to the jail to get things sorted out. But the bailiff, even after hearing the couple’s explanation of the misunderstanding, placed the wife, for whom the warrant had been issued, into a general population jail cell for the night.
Therein, the former school teacher was assaulted while serving her overnight sentence. Another inmate (likely twice the size of my constituent) held her down and urinated on her — unimaginable.
When I contacted Animal Control about the incident, I was told that it was following protocol as dictated by city code. Pretty remorseless. Later, when Animal Control came to the city council for their annual budget appropriation, I described the incident for the record. The response from the city attorney and the Animal Control director was the same: The dog owner should have reported to court.
Even the members of the council didn’t get the essence of my complaint. The problem, I explained to no avail, had nothing to do with my constituent or whether she appeared at a hearing. The question was why the city imposes itself into situations where it is not needed. This matter had been settled amicably between neighbors; there was no need for the vet to snitch other than a city ordinance had required him to do so.
The moral of the story is that every law or ordinance, no matter how small, has the force of government behind it — a lethal, horribly damaging force.
