North Powder in talks with Sheriff’s Office on addressing loose dog crisis
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, January 31st, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
NORTH POWDER – Following the City of North Powder’s recent newsletter announcement that the local loose dog situation had become a full-scale public safety issue, Elkhorn Media Group reached out to city hall for additional information. The details provided by North Powder describe a hazardous, but seemingly recoverable situation.
According to City Recorder Beth Wendt, herself a victim of a previous dog bite incident, the loose dog crisis seemingly reached an apex in December just prior to Christmas. At the time, the city had received at least four reported dog bite incidents and a plethora of complaints regarding loose and menacing dogs going back several months. The number of loose dogs became bad enough that some reports even stated that the dogs were beginning to rove in groups and small packs of three-to-four. One woman told City Hall that she and a friend had even been surrounded by loose dogs and had to stand back-to-back for their own safety while waiting for the pack to move on.
Frustration with the loose dogs came to a head at the latest city council meeting, where numerous residents proclaimed they had to start carrying weapons and personal defense tools in public in case of dogs, leading to the reported use of sticks and bear spray mentioned in the latest newsletter. Questions regarding the legality of firearms to ward off dogs were brought up, with one resident even going so far as to ask if there was anything preventing them from carrying a cattle prod in public.
These concerns have apparently not gone unheeded, with Wendt summarizing the city’s response in the latest meeting as, “the council is just going, ‘you know what? Enough is enough!’”
Current proposed solutions to the dog issue include a one-bite policy, (I.E. any dog reported to have bitten someone one time would be removed from the city), a legal limit of one dog per residence, and the hiring of a dedicated local animal control person. Of these proposals, the city council has been most in favor of the one-bite policy according to Wendt.
In the meantime, Mayor Frieboes has been in discussion with the Union County Sheriff’s Office. As North Powder adheres to the Union County animal control ordinance, the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for current animal control cases and ordinance violations. In addition, the establishment of any local animal control policies would need to be reviewed to avoid conflict with county level policy.
Unofficially, there have been some reports among residents that sheriff’s deputies may be meeting with local dog owners concerning animal complaints. Wendt herself even noted that the number of loose dogs on the streets has seemingly decreased since the holidays. Keep in mind, however, that nothing has been officially confirmed by either North Powder or the sheriff’s office.
As for where the dogs are even coming from and why they keep harassing residents so frequently, that is unfortunately unknown. No pattern in the breed of dogs or what areas of North Powder they frequent has been identified. The city speculates it’s simply a general failure of various residents to keep their dogs contained and to understand their dogs’ behavior.
For anyone unfamiliar with county policy, the Union County animal control ordinance can be found at https://unioncountysheriff.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ORD-2021-03-Animal-Control-Ordinance-.pdf
