Animal control officer clarifies dog situation

Spectrum, by Dave Allison

As the Mat-Su Borough's Chief Animal Care and Regulation Officer, I would like to clarify a few misconceptions in the article "Wasilla law change spares dog's life." In serious cases, such as the death of another animal, it is the responsibility of the Chief Officer to review the Deputy Officer's investigation and make a "classification" (nuisance, dangerous or vicious) recommendation. All "vicious" findings go to the Animal Care and Regulation Board based upon the Borough and Wasilla Animal Care & Regulation Ordinance (Title 7 and Title 24). The board, which is made up of community citizens, and our neighbors who devote a great deal of time and effort to making fair decisions in animal cases, then schedules a public hearing under the rules of the "open meeting" laws in Alaska to either uphold the chief's recommendation or to consider another classification.

At the time "Bear" came into Borough impound, we had a contract with the City of Wasilla to enforce the Wasilla code and to have our board hear Wasilla cases. Because the contract with Wasilla was coming to an end, and the city of Wasilla did not make other arrangements, I elected not to make a recommendation on "Bear" to the board.

The board is not a "rubber stamp" -- the board members allow the owners to present their side of the story, listen to the victim, and make fair decisions. In several recent cases, the board has decided not to classify an animal as "vicious" when there were extenuating circumstances and the owner of the victim animal did not want the animal euthanized. Euthanasia is not automatic -- there are a number of exceptions which provide valid "excuses" for animal behavior.

Perhaps another misconception in the article was that the borough was imposing its rules on Wasilla. Until the recent change in the Wasilla code, it was identical to the borough code. The borough, and its Animal Care & Regulation Board, simply carried out Wasilla ordinances where an incident took place in the city of Wasilla.

When I became the Chief Animal Care and Regulation Officer last fall, I recognized that changes would be needed in the Borough's animal ordinances, particularly in those ordinances dealing with the vast array of situations when animals are aggressive to other animals. The Animal Care and Regulation Board, the mayor and borough assembly, and borough staff has been working diligently on numerous revisions to the borough's ordinance, and, in fact, are currently engaged in a detailed rewriting of the entire Animal Regulation code. We are making significant progress and welcome input from the public. The Animal Care and Regulation Board meets monthly on Monday evenings, and there is an opportunity for public comment at every meeting.

Please join us in helping develop a workable ordinance that will embody the needs of the community to protect the valuable resources in our animals.

Dave Allison is the chief of Mat-Su Borough Animal Care & Regulation office.