TN neighbors want woman's pit bulls declared dangerous

TENNESSEE -- Two months after a beagle was attacked in his own yard on Delmar Drive, a group of neighbors are anxious to see that the pit bulls who they say menace their neighborhood are finally labeled as dangerous dogs.

About a dozen people attended a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting Thursday night and described how Charlotte Frazier’s pit bulls regularly scare them, damage their property and keep them from enjoying time in their own yards.

Interim Animal Control Director Rachel Torres has said she wants to put the dogs on the dangerous dogs list, but the owner has a right to appeal first and she has. That appeal will be held Monday at the county’s Animal Control Board meeting.

Linda McIntosh’s 12-year-old beagle, Skip, was mauled by two pit bulls while he was on a lead outside her house in November. He survived the attack and has healed, but McIntosh and other residents say the pit bulls often run loose and are dangerous to people and pets.

Animal Control and police have been called to the home multiple times.

The owner told The Leaf-Chronicle in November that the dog who led the attack belonged to her fiance, who had recently died, and that she gave the dog away.

A number of people who attended the Delmar Drive Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting Thursday said they will attend the Animal Control Board meeting, which will be held at 3 p.m. at County Commission Chambers in the old courthouse.

Dangerous dog law
Under the county’s Dangerous Dog law, the owner would be required to keep the dogs contained in a very secure enclosure, place a sign in the yard proclaiming the presence of a “dangerous dog” and to muzzle the dogs when they are taken to a veterinarian, the only time the dogs would legally be allowed off the owner’s property.

Dangerous dogs must be spayed or neutered, have rabies shots and be implanted with a microchip that is registered with Animal Control.

If the owners don’t comply with all those rules within 30 days, the dog can be euthanized, Torres has said.

She told The Leaf-Chronicle in November that she sent a certified letter to the owner saying she intended to place the dogs on the dangerous dogs list. Earlier this month, she said the case had been appealed so the dogs were not placed on the list.

If the appeal is unsuccessful, the dogs will remain on the list for 18 months and, if there are no infractions during that time, they will be taken off the list, Torres said.

(Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - Jan 23, 2015)