Village dog owners are being told not to let their pets roam free, especially those that have a tendency to bite, because the police and dog warden will enforce a “two bites and you’re out” law. That means if a dog bites a human or another dog twice, the offending pooch faces being sent to the big doghouse in the sky.
His comments came in response to questions raised by Liberty Street resident Toni Dougherty, whose pet, Buddy, a tiny Biscon, was attacked in June by two pit bulls owned by neighboring residents. They don’t represent a change to the law, but rather, a promise to enforce an existing rule.
Dougherty said Buddy barely survived the attack and needed 100 stitches to close wounds he received.
When Buddy was attacked, Dougherty explained she called police but was told by responding officers that they did not handle such cases, that they could only get involved if a dog attacked a human.
Today, Buddy is now doing fine. Dougherty was at the meeting to ask the village what it was doing to prevent future dog attacks.
Murphy said village officials recently sat down with Marie Post, the town dog warden, and members of the police department. Murphy discovered that somehow, when the village and town police departments were merged earlier this year, enforcing dog laws “fell between the cracks.”
“Me and my neighbors,” Dougherty said, “are still afraid of those dogs and we are afraid to sit on our porches.”
“Roaming dogs can be scary,” agreed village trustee Kelly Myers.
Murphy said anyone who spots a dog roaming off a leash, or if they or their pet is attacked by a dog, can call the police department or the dog warden and they would respond and take the dog to the town’s pound where the owner would have to come and bail their pet out. l
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