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The Jamestown Police Department has seen a small increase in the amount of calls that have come in related to animal control issues over the past few years. This includes a recent incident near Allen Park by West Virginia Boulevard.
Karm Messina, a resident of the area, reported the incident both to the police and the Post-Journal. A neighbor's huskies are continually getting loose, coming on her property, and killing her cats.
"This is the second kitty these huskies have killed for me in the last two months," Messina said. "These huskies keep breaking loose, I don't know what's going on, but the last one they killed, they left it right on my step and it died in my yard."
Another one of her cats was grabbed by the neck by one of the huskies, which then ran off, leading to Messina chasing the dogs through other people's yards, trying to get the one dog to drop the cat. Messina reported it to the city's animal control officer, saying they knew exactly who the owner was, as Messina has also talked with the owner via Messenger, who has told her the dogs are friendly.
"The animal control officer goes down and speaks with this woman, who lives on West Virginia Boulevard, and he admitted to me this was not the first time he's had to talk with her about the dogs being loose," Messina said. "Just coincidentally they found a dead cat in the neighborhood, put it in a black bag and disposed of it. I never got to see my cat; I know it was my cat they found dead."
Messina said she called animal control again, and was told the officer could not do anything more than that. Others in the neighborhood have concerns about these dogs as well, as Messina said a friend of hers wanted to walk her small dog, saw the huskies out and about, and did not dare take her dog out. Messina said for herself, she has one cat left that goes in and out, and her neighbor is also concerned because they have an indoor, outdoor cat as well. The cats are all spayed and neutered, and Messina said they have a right to go outside onto the property if they want to without getting killed by a husky, which she noted come right onto her property and into her garage to grab the cat.
"There's a leash law," Messina said. "How many times should these dogs be allowed to get loose without being reprimanded?"
Police Chief Scott Forster said the specific role of the city's Animal Control Officer is to investigate and enforce city codes and Agriculture and Markets laws pertaining to licensing, leash laws, dangerous dogs such as a case with a dog bite, vaccinations, continuous barking dogs and the transport of dogs to the designated facility. Forster said he is also tasked with responding to various other complaints regarding animals that are not always dogs and not always domestic animals. The animal control officer in these instances has the ability and discretion to issue summons for any of the city code violations, resulting in a fine for the violation and at times, depending on the circumstance, seizure of the animal to be taken to a designated facility.
According to the city code, Chapter 125-4, "No dog shall be permitted to be at large or allowed to run at large within the City, except that a dog may be upon the private property or premises of another only with the knowledge, consent and approval of the owner of such premises, and further excepting that a dog duly licensed and wearing a collar and license as required by Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of the state may be upon a public way or public recreation area, provided that such dog is leashed by a leash not exceeding eight feet in length and is then and there under the custody and control of the owner or other competent person accompanying the dog who shall be required to make proper and immediate disposal of any pet excrement."
The code also states that "No person who owns or has control of a dog or cat shall permit or suffer such dog or cat to damage or destroy property of any kind of another person, to attack or bite any person peaceably conducting himself in any place where such person may lawfully be or to attack, chase, injure or kill any domestic animal or dog or cat or another person when such animal is in any place where it may lawfully be."
Messina emphasized that something needs to happen so no more innocent animals get killed, especially as her cats are her pets, and they are not running around or reproducing, and are just minding their own business in her yard. Both cats killed by the huskies were 15 years old. She added that people and the city should be aware, especially as small children and other small animals are around that area of Allen Park a lot.
Forster said that the police department has seen a small increase in these types of cases and other animal complaints each year for the past couple of years.
"It is hard to determine exactly what the cause of this is because the calls are entered as general animal complaints and the call could be a variety of different issues from dogs at large, check the well being of dogs or other animals, found dogs and any other complaints involving animals -- not always domestic animals," Forster said. "I do believe there is a higher reporting of animal abuse cases which I think is partially due to the presence of cameras. We have seen calls for service over the years come in that may not have been reported or observed but the incidents were caught on camera which makes the reporting easier."
Reporting of animal abuse cases are also brought to the attention of the police department very quickly, Forster added, noting that they usually involve videos and/or photos of the incident. In cases where criminal charges could be pursued, a police officer or detective will work the case to file for criminal charges. The police department always looks to develop more knowledge of any aspect of law enforcement, and Forster said that includes the recent training some officers attended pertaining to animal abuse and neglect. He added they also work very closely with the District Attorney's Office when pursuing these cases and throughout the process. The department also looks to continue to educate people on the leash laws in the city.
"We can continue to educate and remind people of leash laws and when responding to some of these calls, providing education and resources to an owner can prevent the situation from continuing," Forster said.