Responding to a spike in local attacks involving pit pulls as
well as an increase in abandoned Chihuahuas, Hollister officials
are working on an ordinance that would require that those breeds be
spayed or neutered.
Responding to a spike in local attacks involving pit pulls as well as an increase in abandoned Chihuahuas, Hollister officials are working on an ordinance that would require that those breeds be spayed or neutered.
“We’ve had a spate of pit bull attacks where we’ve had dogs attacking dogs, dogs attacking humans and dogs attacking humans and dogs,” said Police Chief Jeff Miller, noting that many of those attacks involved unaltered dogs. “We’ve also had several dangerous dog hearings, predominantly involving pit bulls and pit bull mixes. We need to do something to ensure public safety.”
The Hollister City Council this week authorized City Attorney Stephanie Atigh to draft an ordinance that would mandate the spaying and neutering of pit bulls and Chihuahuas. In 2009, according to Hollister Animal Control, those two breeds accounted for 41 percent of intake services, which includes confiscation, disposal of dead animals, euthanization, surrendering of animals by owners and the pickup of strays.
For the first time in approximately 20 years, animal control recently has had to euthanize un-adopted stray or abandoned Chihuahuas, according to a report presented to the council.
“In the last couple of years there has been an explosion of the pit bull and Chihuahua population,” said Julie Carreiro, Hollister’s animal control supervisor. “People are breeding them and just not being responsible. They’re both real popular dogs, but there are getting to be too many of them.”
The animal shelter works to have animal rescue organizations take in the Chihuahuas, but the sheer number of them makes it difficult to place all of them, resulting in the need for euthanization.
“Shelters are full, too, and rescues are taking more of other types of dogs, so when we have 10 Chihuahuas there’s just no place for them,” Carreiro said. “It’s unfortunate we have to euthanize any of them.”
Many pit bull owners, Carreiro noted, are not properly caring for their dogs, either letting them off a leash or having improper fencing to contain them.
“Most incidents involving pit bulls involve owner irresponsibility,” she said. “Either the dog broke out of a fence or the person was out front with their dog without it being on a leash.”
Spaying and neutering can help reduce the aggressive tendencies of dogs, Carreiro said. However, even if dog owners are willing to have their animals spayed or neutered, the cost can be prohibitive.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22 with the economy being bad,” Carreiro said.
More dog owners are allowing their animals to breed in the hopes that the litter can be sold, while many owners find it hard to pay what can be a $300 bill to spay or neuter a pit bull.
In her report to the council, Atigh said the city has recently experienced “a surge in dog bites and dog attacks arising from dogs running at large.”
“Statistics show that unaltered dogs are more likely to bite than altered dogs” and that more than 90 percent of human fatalities from dog bites were caused by unaltered dogs, she reported.
For the full story see the Pinnacle on Friday.
