Lakewood, CO Ordinance

In early 2006 many cities in the Denver Metro Area were considering passing breed specific legislation aimed at banning pit bulls and other dogs as a result of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling overturning the legislation passed earlier in 2004 prohibiting any city from passing breed specific legislation. The City of Denver began enforcing their pit bull ban in May of 2005 and the Town of Castle Rock began enforcing their ordinance outlawing pit bulls as well. In February of 2006 the City of Aurora passed and began enforcement of breed specific legislation that grandfathered owners with restrictions and outlawed new owners from owning 13 specific breeds of dogs in the City of Aurora.

In Jefferson County, the cities of Arvada, Lakewood, and Wheat Ridge were starting discussions about breed specific legislation in their cities. The concern for many local governments was to not be the last city that prohibited a certain breed so that all the problem dogs would end up in their municipality.

Jefferson County is unique among Front Range communities in that all the animal control agencies in the county are members of the Table Mountain Animal Center (TMAC). TMAC, as part of its organizational structure, has an Advisory Committee that comprises the City’s of Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Westminster, and Unincorporated Jefferson County. The animal control supervisors in these jurisdictions Becky Robison, Michele Evans, Holly Gilbertson, Rollie Inskeep, Mary McKenna, and Carla Zinanti along with Nick Fisher, the Executive Director of TMAC and a member of the Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs (CLSD), met at the request of the city and county managers.

The goal was to come up with a draft of a county-wide Dangerous Dog Ordinance that conceptually could be agreed upon by all jurisdictions within Jefferson County in lieu of passing breed specific legislation. In the spring of 2006 a draft was agreed upon by the Jefferson County agencies and new ordinances were approved by most of the municipalities by the end of 2006.

The Lakewood Dangerous Dog Ordinance is a representation of that conceptual ordinance. Along with a county-wide Dog Licensing Program, Jefferson County showed how a community can take a proactive approach to making safer communities.

By legislating and addressing the larger issue of responsible pet ownership, these communities will succeed in the long term by implementing an educational and enforcement process with people who own dangerous dogs, instead of taking the narrow philosophical approach of prohibiting specific breeds of dogs.

For the wording of the legislation, click here.

Englewood, CO Ordinance

Englewood, Colorado passed a new ordinance in summer 2008, after an 18-month process spearheaded by a representative task force.

For the wording of the legislation, click here.

Article by Lisa L. Sickles, CPDT CDBC and Task Force Member

In February of 2007, the city of Englewood held a public hearing on a proposed dog ordinance. Many people spoke at the hearing and many requested that a task force be created to rework the language of the proposed ordinance.

In March, the city council established a task force to advise them on specific issues relating to the proposed ordinance with the goal being to “insure public safety through strengthening the current provisions in the City Code related to vicious animals.”

The task force was comprised of seven members and included representation from different community perspectives: a representative from the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee, a representative from Englewood Unleashed, an Englewood letter carrier, two Englewood residents, and two animal professionals. (Animal professionals who were Englewood residents were preferred.) The residents and the animal professionals were selected by city council through an application process. Interested parties filled out an application and submitted it to the city manager’s office. Interviews were conducted in April of 2007 and task force members were selected by the end of April.

The task force was charged with:

1. Clarifying language and defining the following: attack, charging, harassing, and tethering.
2. Providing alternatives for the court to control a vicious animal: Classification of the animal as vicious or dangerous/potentially dangerous vs. vicious; use of microchip and/or tagging; confinement/fencing; and requiring a warning sign.
3. Providing clarity to animal owners who have been charged with an offense: Establishing criteria/causation for impoundment and destruction and creating an optional path, if appropriate, for education and rehabilitation.
4. Considering additional changes: dogs at large-in yard but unattended and tethering restrictions (on private property/yards and in public places).

The task force’s first meeting was May 17, 2007 and it met once a week through July 19, 2008. The task force also held meetings with local law enforcement and code enforcement to ensure that the proposal was enforceable.

The members of the task force did not want to implement breed specific bans nor did they want to punish responsible dog owners. Their goal was to provide education to the residents of Englewood before a dog became a problem, and if there was a problem dog, the proper authorities could enforce the ordinance.

Achieving this goal was not an easy task. The members of the task force discussed many different issues, often having to wait until questions could be answered by the appropriate city employees. The task force members had to agree on the ordinance so that they could present it to council as a group. This proved difficult because of members’ passionate beliefs. The group used examples of ordinances from other states and municipalities as well as CDC bite information and many other resources.

The ordinance was presented to city council in a study session so that questions could be addressed. The task force then made changes and presented the ordinance again, which was accepted and placed into effect on July 21, 2008.

The resulting ordinance is something that every member of the task force, city council, and city employees can be proud of. It is well thought out and carefully constructed. The task force process worked very well; it was lengthy but that allowed it to also be thoughtful.

Parker, CO Ordinance

In 2006, a proposed ordinance banning certain dog breeds from the Town of Parker, Colorado was reviewed and rejected by the Town Council. The Mayor and Council decided that a more effective method of protecting the community would be to involve citizens in updating the Town's vicious dog ordinance. A citizens' committee was formed from among participants of several public meetings on this topic.

The committee, overseen by Councilman Scott Jackson, volunteered countless hours to research and work on ordinance revisions with Town staff. The final result of this committee was an updated Parker Municipal Code, which was adopted by Town Council in November 2008. Formerly known as the "vicious dog or cat" section, it now refers to "dangerous" and "at-risk" animals, depending on the severity of the incident. Aside from refining definitions, it also offers more specific tools to prevent recurrences, such as court-ordered dog training, neutering, and microchipping.

For the wording of the legislation, visit http://www.colocode.com/parker/parker_09.pdf.