SAN CLEMENTE : Council Beefs Up Vicious Animals Law
The City Council has voted unanimously to strengthen an existing law defining vicious animals and the responsibilities of their owners.
The update to a 1983 ordinance creates an appeal process for the owner of a pet declared vicious by city animal control officers. Allowing an appeal could prevent the city from destroying an animal that is wrongly declared vicious, said Capt. Tom Dailey of the city Fire Department, which oversees animal control.
The stronger wording also says that an animal owner can be found negligent if the pet attacks someone while in the owner’s control.
If an animal is declared vicious, based on previously reported attacks on other animals or against people, it must be muzzled when taken out in public, and must be kept in an enclosure at the owner’s home. New wording adopted Wednesday defines the enclosure as a four-walled area that the animal cannot escape.
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