Posted on November 15, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
A resident who lives on Leslie Street in North Judson came before Town Council members during their first meeting of the month to address concerns about dangerous dogs at a neighboring property.
He told members, “Under your ordinances, they’re considered vicious animals. It says a dangerous animal shall be any animal that chases or approaches a person in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack. These dogs were barking and they were going right after people.”
The same resident was before the town council last fall with similar concerns.
He said he called Town Hall and spoke with Billing Clerk Jennifer Vanek who confirmed that the dogs at the particular property do not have their tags.
He added that he was under the impression that when Officer Rico Simpson responded to the most recent incident, he took the animals to the Starke County Humane Society.
The resident reported that the dogs were back with the owners that same weekend and he didn’t understand why since the policy is not to return dogs if they are untagged or when there are outstanding fines for tickets or code-enforcement violations.
Town Marshal Kelly Fisher said that as far as she knew, Officer Simpson and the reserve officer with him were unable to catch the dogs and they didn’t take them to the Humane Society. She did say that the residents were ticketed at that time.
She said she would follow up about the incident by checking with the Humane Society and the owners of the animals.
Ordinance Officer Kerry Rust said he has never been called to respond to the residence about the dogs but took down the address of the property where they are located in order to address the problem as well.
The resident also expressed concerns about people refusing to pay the fines for violations. Town Attorney Justin Schramm responded that they’ve talked about mirroring the policy in place in the City of Knox where individuals can be taken to court so the Town can obtain the outstanding fees.
The information provided above was as of the Town Council’s last meeting on Monday, November 4th. Circumstances may have changed since then and a follow up may be provided when members meet next on Monday, November 18th.
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