Animal versus Human

Hi Friends & Neighbors,


I read the article in the Vinita newspaper about the little girl being attacked by the vicious dog Saturday in Vinita, Oklahoma and I was appalled that the article stated that a judge had to determine whether the dog would be put down or spared.

I wrote about our experience a couple of weeks ago when we had trouble in our yard with a vicious dog. It was tranquilized on Saturday by a Vinita Police officer and the owner retrieved the dog on Monday morning. This dog had my husband cornered in our yard and it took two calls to the police to get an officer to respond. I’m assuming he went to the dog pound and retrieved the dog catching pickup. This was not acceptable and if that dog had lunged as it was preparing to do, my husband would have been injured badly. He managed to get away from the animal, but now I'm fearful to be outside after dark and I'm afraid it will come over the fence and hurt us or someone else.

I have been reading the ordinance on animals since and this is what I found.

Chapter 3, Section 5-3-16 HARBORING VICIOUS ANIMALS OR NON DOMESTIC ANIMALS PROHIBITED:

A.  It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or combination thereof to keep, maintain, or harbor within the city limits of the city of Vinita, Oklahoma, any vicious animal or non domestic animal.

B..    Any person, firm, or corporation who violates subsection A of this section shall upon conviction be fined a sum not to exceed one thousand dollars($1,000.00), or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or both. (Ord. 3252, 10-19-2004)

To me unlawful means you cannot have a vicious animal in the city limits, period!

Can the ordinance be restructured to read that any dog that attacks or attempts to attack a human being or other domestic animal shall be put down at the expense of the owner? This is the question going to be put to the Vinita City Council.

A thousand dollar fine isn’t enough. The life of a child cannot be bought back with a fine. Why have common sense and the safety of the public become secondary to vicious animals and their owners? Does someone have to die in Vinita from a dog attack before something is done to prevent this from happening again and again?

The Mayor of Vinita did tell the public tonight at the council meeting that the ordinance would be visited, so I hope and pray that something will be done to stop people from keeping vicious animals in the city limits.

This is usually the night I report on the VUA and City council meeting, but I postponed it until tomorrow. This was an extraordinary event that happened in Vinita on Saturday and the council viewed the pictures of the child's injuries. 

This cannot happen again in our town, on our watch. We have to be protected and feel safe. We can't let vicious animals that threaten our safety and lives diminish our quality of life. 

I'll keep you posted on this issue as information becomes available.

Until Later,

Okie Girl @ Home