County Clerk Roy Crawford, who presided over an administrative hearing dealing with the declaration on Monday, said that the county’s animal control ordinance offers no leeway once an animal has attacked a human.
“This is an unfortunate situation, and I’m sure none of the parties involved wanted it to happen, but it did,” Crawford said.
The dogs must now remain chained or muzzled or in a secure location at all times, according to the requirements of the ordinance. Failure to do so would give Blount County Animal Control officials the power to seize the animals.
However, the dog’s owner, James Morris, has been cooperating with Animal Control officers and is meeting the requirements of the county ordinance, according to officials.
“The dogs will not run loose, and I will take extra steps to make sure something like this never happens again,” Morris said.
Only four of the six dogs owned by Morris were thought to be involved in an attack on Jasmine Nicole Lindenschmidt the morning of Dec. 2 at Morris’ Cunningham Road West residence, but authorities have not been able to determine which for certain. Because of that, all the dogs have been declared vicious.
The girl’s mother, Jennifer Compton, 23, reportedly told Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies that she left the girl outside with the dogs — two poodles and two pit bull mixes — while she went inside to fix her daughter a glass of water. When she returned, she said, the dogs had the girl on the ground and were biting her.
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| Jasmine Lindenschmidt |
Deputies responding to the home found the toddler bleeding from wounds on her head, face, neck and throat, according to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office statement. The girl was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center after the attack, but no information was available about her current status.
‘Went against rules’
Morris called the attack a tragedy — “It is not the child’s fault what happened in any way, shape, or form” — but said that the mother had broken his rules concerning the animals. “My rules have always been that the dogs are monitored,” he said. “... They went against the rules I put in my house. No child was supposed to be left alone (with the dogs).”
There is no way to know what precipitated the attack, he said. “Any domesticated animals, you can’t leave a toddler with.”
In addition to a having a heavily fenced area for the dogs, Morris said he has now installed a security camera to keep track of what is going on with the animals.
Morris had appealed the designation, but Crawford upheld the decision of Blount County Animal Control officers to issue a vicious animal citation. During the hearing, Morris presented Crawford with letters of support from people who vouched that the dogs were normally not aggressive. “These are people who have been to my house and know the dogs,” he said.
Crawford said the administrative hearing was not a judicial hearing and did not determine any blame in the attacks.
(Daily Times - Jan 24, 2012)
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