WESTOVER — A Westover resident concerned about the city’s dog problem expressed her concern during Monday’s city council meeting.
Kerry Webster, a resident of Fairmor Avenue, told the council that the problem is a regular one with dogs escaping on her street several times a week.
She said she is worried about letting her dog because of the constant loose dog problem.
In his report to the council, Westover Police Chief Rick Panico said there were two dog bites in the past week.
On Oct. 31, a pitbull-mix bit a middle school student while he waited for his bus on Riverview Avenue, one street over from Fairmor.
On Nov. 1, a man was walking his dog when two dogs who had gotten loose came after his dog. The man protected his dog and was taken to the hospital.
The two aggressive dogs were taken by the dog warden and quarantined, Panico said.
He said his department receives a lot of calls about loose dogs but due to manpower issues unless the dog is found in about 10 minutes they can’t spend all day looking.
Following the council meeting, Pancio sat with the five Fairmor Avenue residents and advised them to take pictures of the dogs in their yards and asked which house the dogs belonged to.
One dog owner who the concerned residents mentioned has been cited for letting the dogs run loose three times, Pancio told them.
The dogs cannot be confiscated unless they are unlicensed, no matter how many times they escape, Pancio told them.
He also recommended they pepper spray the dogs if they came on their property. He offered to get the residents pepper spray and train them in the proper way to use it.
