Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.
Anyone who has ever stood petrified as a dog brandished its canines for attack knows a law book won't do much good -- unless, of course, it is heavy enough to hit the animal and send it scurrying away.
Some would say the laws, as they pertain to dangerous and vicious dogs in Clark County and local municipalities, also don't have enough bite.
The absence of serious charges against the owner of two unleashed pit bulls that mauled 8-year-old Dajahane Neely on March 27 as she played in the front of her home at 1801 J St. in West Las Vegas has raised questions as to whether current ordinances and laws are adequate.
County and city Animal Control officials, however, say Southern Nevada laws have reduced canine attacks and have sent a stern warning to dog owners that they will face felony charges for subsequent vicious canine attacks.
Under Nevada law, a dog is deemed vicious if, "without provocation, it kills or inflicts substantial bodily harm upon a human being, or, after its owner or keeper was notified by a law enforcement agency that it is dangerous it continues to behave menacingly to a degree that would lead a reasonable person to defend himself against substantial bodily harm."
While municipalities can impose misdemeanor fines of up to $1,000 per incident and up to six months in jail, under Nevada law, a person can be charged with a felony if he illegally owns a known vicious dog and that dog seriously injures someone.
Punishment can include a term of one to four years in prison, though officials admit that rarely happens. A judge also can fine the dog's owner up to $5,000 and order the dog be destroyed.
Las Vegas Animal Control Sgt. Roger VanOordt, a supervisor and 32-year veteran of animal enforcement, said when he wrote the city's sterner dog bite ordinance that was passed in May 2000, he looked at a number of cities equal in size to Las Vegas and came up with what he felt was tougher than what those cities had.
"The starting point was that the ordinance had to be compatible with state law and also had to be enforceable and consistent," he said.
"Ours was at the time one of the strongest ordinances in the region because we required dogs that were declared dangerous to have a microchip (with data that would prove identity in civil suits) implanted and $50,000 liability insurance. Other cities have since added those things to their ordinances."
VanOordt said he is "satisfied with what we have to work with." He said some cities have tried banning pit bulls and other large breeds but have found such laws to be unenforceable.
"You can write a lot of words on paper and make them real strong, but by doing that either they can't be enforced, or someone challenges them and they are overturned on (issues of) constitutionality and you have to start over," he said.
"I think we have good laws that look at both circumstances and severity of bites. What we have in place is enforceable and is common sense."
Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack has proposed an ordinance that would allow animal control and police officers to round up potentially vicious dogs. The ordinance, which will be introduced April 21, is intended to thwart illegal dog fighting.City and Clark County animal enforcement officials say they generally declare a dog dangerous if it has bitten two victims within 18 months or if the first incident was severe. In either case, the dog's owner cannot face felony charges under Nevada law unless that dog strikes again.
Joe Boteilho, chief of code enforcement for Clark County, says the laws are adequate because people usually get the message the first time their dogs bite someone.
"We see especially at the lower levels where dog owners destroy dangerous animals and avoid a repeat of incidents that warrant the threat of felony charges," he said.
Boteilho said he can recall "off the top of my head" just two cases in which judges imposed the threat of a felony in further attacks. Both were in the 1990s.
One involved a woman's two rottweilers dragging a person under a gate and mauling him and the other involved a woman who let small children into her home where her Akita bit them on their faces. After the threat of felony charges, both women took precautions preventing future incidents, Boteilho said.
VanOordt said the last time someone was killed by a dog in the city was more than a decade ago when a dalmation killed a baby in the owner's house. It was ruled accidental. The owner had the dog destroyed and no one was charged, VanOordt said.
Boteilho and VanOordt said Nevada law is strong enough that the owner of a dangerous dog could face felony manslaughter charges if his dog gets gets loose and kills someone. They could not recall that ever happening, however.
Animal Control officials argue that realistically there is little any governing agency can do to a pet owner until his dog bites someone.
"The dog has to have a history before we can get him classified as dangerous," Las Vegas Animal Control Lt. Karen Coyne said. "If its owner then walks him without a leash and the dog attacks someone, then that owner faces the more serious charges."
That was what was absent in the Neely case, where the child received more than 50 stitches around her left ear and cheek, and other bites on her arms, legs and body.
The dogs' owner Anthony Clark, 33, is charged only with misdemeanor counts of obstructing a police officer, dogs running at large, dogs without licenses and dogs without proof of rabies vaccinations. He faces a May 6 Municipal Court date.
Coyne said Clark's dogs had no history of prior bites, therefore he cannot be charged with anything more than what has been levied against him.
Metro Police killed one of Clark's dogs when they responded to the call about the attack on the little girl. Clark's other dog was impounded at the Animal Foundation's Lied Animal Shelter at 700 N. Mohave Road.
That dog is nearing the end of a 10-day quarantine for rabies. After that, Las Vegas Animal Control will seek to have it classified as a "vicious" animal so they can destroy it. There is a legal process that allows the owner protest the classification.
City ordinances allow a dangerous dog to continue to live, but with a number of restrictions, while a vicious dog must be destroyed.
Since sterner dog bite measures were passed by the city nearly four years ago, 85 dogs have been declared dangerous, and 31 of those cases are still active. VanOordt said a great many of the nonactive cases involve animals given up because the owner could not meet the expense of the restrictions.
Also during that time, 13 dogs have been classified as vicious, Coyne said.
"We are always retrospective when (serious dog bite) incidents occur," Coyne said. "When it happens we ask ourselves if our ordinances are strong enough."
The city and Clark County ordinances are similar in determining whether a dog is dangerous. However, a dog that is deemed "dangerous" in the city is classified as "vicious" in the county for the purpose of issuing permits.
A dangerous dog, according to the city, must be spayed or neutered and kept within an enclosure that is comfortable based on the animal's size and secure enough so that the animal cannot injure anyone reaching over the top.
In addition to the liability insurance policy in the city, the dangerous dog's owner cannot sell, relocate the animal or give it away without approval of Animal Control.
In the county, a vicious animal permit must be obtained from animal control and a vicious dog must be confined to the private property of the owner.
The county and city ordinances require such an animal be kept under the control of an adult and that it must not leave the private property unless muzzled and leashed.
Both ordinances require warning signs for private property where such dogs are kept.
In Henderson, as in Clark County and the city, dogs must be kept on a leash or confined to the premises of the owner. A dog's owner can be given a misdemeanor citation for the animal being off the owner's property and not on a leash.
In North Las Vegas, all pets regardless of age must be leashed at all times. Fines for allowing dogs to run loose are $170 for a first offense, $330 for a second offense, and $615 for a third offense.
Animal Control officials noted that the Neely family, which consists of her 10-year-old brother and an out-of-work single mother -- and other bite victims -- can file a lawsuit against the dogs' owner and seek civil damages in addition to the criminal proceedings.
But to recover damages in civil dog-bite cases in Nevada, a plaintiff must prove that the dog's owner was negligent and that the owner's negligence caused the plaintiff's injury, according the Dog Bite Legal Center.
"What we hope people will come to understand out of dog bite incidents is that dog ownership is a responsibility not to be taken lightly," VanOordt said. "It can be a responsibility that comes we criminal and civil sanctions."
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