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1990-17624-Minutes for Meeting May 30,1990 Recorded 6/18/1990fit). r 0512 90-1'7624 DOG HEARING P 2S 02 DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS May 30, 1990 E 34 fWU - i-F Chair Throop opened the hearing at 11:08 a.m. Board members in attendance were Dick Maudlin, Tom Throop and Lois Bristow Prante. Also present were Rick Isham, County Legal Counsel and Cynthia Komurka, Animal Control Officer. Officer Komurka testified that Bruce White, Assistant Legal Counsel, would be unable to attend due to the length of another hearing. She said that on the 21st of May she got a report of dogs involved with livestock. She received a phone call from Nancy Stevens, 126 NE King Way, Redmond, reporting some dogs in the pasture at her residence, and she thought they had killed one of her lambs. Later it was determined that the lamb was not hers but belonged to a neighbor. At 2:30 pm that same day, Mr. Wagenblast, who resided at 2036 N Canal and was a neighbor of Ms. Stevens, phoned that he had shot a dog involved with his livestock. He was the owner of the lamb that had been killed earlier that day. Mr. Wagenblast asked Officer Komurka to investigate the incident. When she arrived, she found a male blue heeler which had been shot by Mr. Wagenblast. The dog was licensed to Mr. David Hart, 729 NE King Way. She said she had dealt with Mr. Hart before concerning problems with his dog. Mr. Wagenblast had told her that the other dog involved in the incident was identical to the one that was shot. Office Komurka then spoke with Nancy Stevens and her son Jeffrey Hamilton. She did not speak with Ruth Grant, however she was told that she was also a witness. Ms. Stevens directed Officer Komurka to her neighbors. She then went down to the Lowery residence which was directly east of Nancy Stevens and Ruth Grant's residence. She spoke with Debi Lowery. Debi Lowery said she had a blue heeler but the dog was not at the residence at that moment. Mrs. Lowery mentioned that she had heard shots earlier in the day, about 2-2:30 p.m. and had gone out to investigate. Officer Komurka said about this time the Lowery dog came around the corner--it was a female blue heeler with a red collar and looked very similar to the one which Mr. Wagenblast had shot. When the dog came onto the porch, she asked Mrs. Lowery if she could take a look at the dog. She observed some blood on the dog's mussel. She did not check the dogs teeth for wool because Mrs. Lowery indicated that the dog might bite. It had been about three hours since the incident had taken place. She advised Mrs. Lowery that she was required by law to impound the dog, and that they had a right to a hearing. Kevin Lowery then came home, and they agreed they wanted a hearing. Officer Komurka impounded the dog and left a note at the Humane Society asking that the shelter staff check the stool sample the next morning. Monna Lyon, Manager of the Humane Society, testified that the dog PAGE 1 DOG HEARING MINUTES: 6/30/90 x.1011 0513 was brought into the shelter with a note to keep the dog separate and to check the stool sample. They put the dog in a clean kennel and the next morning there was a stool which was very black, appeared to have blood in it, and was full of hair. The hair was light colored and very short. She said it very possibly was from a sheared sheep. She said the dog was still in the shelter. She said the stool sample was completely full of hair which was unlikely to come from the dog licking herself. Ruth Grant, 126 NE King Way, testified that on the morning of the 21st she observed some dogs in the pasture while she was out irrigating. She was irrigating in the pasture adjacent to the pasture where the livestock were attacked. Ms. Grant identified the picture of the dog Mr. Wagenblast shot as one of the dogs she saw in the pasture that morning. She then identified the picture of the Lowery's female blue heeler as the other dog that she saw in the pasture that morning. She said both dogs were chasing the livestock. She had heard the dogs barking. After finding the injured lamb, she went to look for the yew when she hear the dogs barking again. She was on the southeast corner of her property. She saw a dog come out of a shed chasing the yews and lambs and then the other dog came from around the rocks chasing more yews and lambs and headed northeast. She yelled at them, they stopped and then ran to the northeast. She went home and contacted Nancy Stevens. Commissioner Throop asked if she could clearly, positively identify both dogs in the pictures as the dogs she saw chasing the yews and lambs in the pasture? She said she could. Jeffrey Hamilton, 126 NE King Way, testified that he had seen the lamb that was chewed. He heard shots around 2:30 pm and went to Mr. Wagenblast's property where he witnessed the sheep that had been chewed and the dog that had been shot. He identified the picture as the dog that Mr. Wagenblast had shot. He identified the picture of the Lowery's female blue heeler as a dog that lived right across the tracks from him. He said this dog was usually loose when he went by it, however he didn't witness this dog in the field. Mike Wagenblast, 2036 N Canal in Redmond, testified that he was the owner of the sheep that were killed and injured. He identified the picture of the dead dog as the one that he shot. He identified the picture of the Lowery's dog as the dog that ran off when he shot the first dog. He said the dogs were identical, with short bobbed tails. He shot at the second dog but missed. He said he got home about 10:30 a.m. that morning. His son said they had received a call from a neighbor lady about dogs being with his sheep. They went through the sheep herd and found one dead yew and approximately 14 yews and 2-3 lambs that had been injured. They then went to the neighbors to see about the injured lamb they had reported. They brought the injured lamb (which later died) home from Nancy Stevens. He brought home all his sheep to sort our the injured ones and then went in for lunch. He looked out the kitchen PAGE 2 DOG HEARING MINUTES: 6/30/90 101 -0514 window and his sheep were scattering everywhere. He went out and saw these dogs chasing the sheep. He went back in and got his gun and as he came out, one dog was killing a lamb so he shot it. He shot at the other dog but missed as the dog was running towards home. He said he was surprised that they were both dingles with bobbed tails. He had not seen the dogs before. He said he had shorn the yews about one week before the incident. He said they had approximately 500 yews and 600 lambs. Officer Komurka review some pictures she had taken with the Board regarding the Lowery residence and the Wagenblast residence in relation to the pasture area. Kevin Lowery, 492 NE king Way, Redmond, and owner of the impounded blue heeler dog, testified that his dogs were always in at night. On the morning of the incident, he let the dogs out about 7:30 a.m. when he left for work. When he got home that evening, Officer Komurka was at his home and explained that his dog had blood on her and that she had been seen chasing sheep. He said his wife had heard the shots earlier in the day. She went out to see what it was and called her dog "Blue." The dog came down off the little hill with her two puppies which she always had with her. He said a day or two before the incident, he had shot a rockchuck in the field where the dog had been, and it was gone the day after the incident. He thought his dog might have eaten it which could have been the cause of the blood and hair in the stool. He said they had had sheep in the past, and they had two baby calves. Their dog played with them and never harmed them. He said there were other dogs in the area that looked like his dog, and if his dog was involved they would have seen three dogs because her two puppies were always with her. Commissioner Maudlin asked Mr. Lowery if his dogs were loose during the day, and he said yes. Debi Lowery, 492 NE King Way, Redmond, said that if anyone had seen "Blue" there would have seen her puppies, too. Commissioner Prante clarified that the law was very clear and gave no flexibility on the part of Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Throop pointed out that if the Board conclusively decided that the dog had been chasing livestock, injuring livestock, or killing livestock, they would have to order the dog put to death by State law. Therefore the Board's only role was to determine if the evidence concludes that the dog in question was chasing, harming or killing livestock. There was discussion about whether or not the hair in the dog's stool could be analyzed to get proof it was sheep's hair. Commissioner Maudlin felt very strongly that there had been eye- witness testimony identifying the Lowery dog as the dog seen chasing Mr. Wagenblast's sheep, and therefore the Board did not have any alternative but to have the dog put to sleep. Whether or not the owners wanted to have a hair analysis done would be up to PAGE 3 DOG HEARING MINUTES: 6/30/90 :7 101 - obis them but it would not alter the Board's action. MAUDLIN: I move that we proceed to have the dog put down. Commissioner Prante pointed out that if the dog had been identified as chasing the sheep without doing any damage, they would still have to be put down. Monna Lyon testified that most dogs that chase livestock do not do so to eat them. They do it to play, and it could end up with the livestock being killed. Commissioner Throop said the evidence was very clear, the dog was identified, and he didn't feel there was any choice under state law but to order the dog put to sleep in a humane fashion. PRANTE: I would second Dick's motion. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: YES DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ois is tow rante, Commissioner To Throo , Chair /ickaudlin, Commissioner BOCC:alb PAGE 4 DOG HEARING MINUTES: 6/30/90