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1991-10011-Minutes for Meeting April 03,1991 Recorded 4/12/1991: AC 0F1L1AED 0106-0875 APR 91 -10011 1'.. MCCOY DOG HEARING DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS April 3, 1991 Chairman Maudlin convened the meeting of the Animal Control'-joar4 at approximately 9:30 a.m. concerning a complaint of dogs ch"ing livestock. Board members in attendance were Dick Maudlin, Tom Throop and Nancy Pope Schlangen. Also present was Bruce White, Assistant Legal Counsel. Vance Lawrence, Animal Control Officer, testified that on Friday, March 22, 1991, at 10:20 a.m. he got a call regarding a case of dogs chasing llamas at 61945 Rawhide Drive. He arrived at 10:40 a.m and contacted Mr. Valentine. Mr. Valentine told him he had seen two dogs chasing llamas, showed him where the fence had been broken, and pointed to the residence where he felt the dogs lived. He had identified the dogs as a standard poodle and a tan pekinese. As he was leaving the residence, Terry Penhollow stopped him and reported two dogs chasing his horses. He then proceeded to the residence where Joan Austin was house sitting for Mrs. McCoy at 61945 Pettigrew Court. A standard poodle dog and a tan pekinese dog were at the residence when he arrived. He said the poodle lived at the Pettigrew Court residence and the pekinese was visiting. He advised Mrs. Austin of the situation, impounded the dogs, took them to Mr. Valentine who positively identified them as being the dogs involved with chasing the llama. Mrs. McCoy owned the standard poodle and Kathleen Nickel owned the pekinese. He showed the Board pictures of the dogs which were taken at the shelter. When asked to expand upon what he had been told about the chase, Officer Lawrence said Mr. Valentine said he and his wife were sitting at the breakfast table at Myer Avedovech's home and noticed the llamas running outside excitedly. When he looked outside, he saw a standard poodle chasing the llamas; and when they went outside, they saw the poodle and the pekinese in the field. One of the llamas was chased into the fence, broke through the fence, and escaped. The Valentines chased the dogs off, and the dogs headed east towards the poodle's residence. Officer Lawrence said he was unable to contact Mr. Penhollow regarding this hearing. Bruce White requested that the report done by Officer Lawrence be admitted into the record as Exhibit A. Officer Lawrence verified that the document marked Exhibit A was his report. Mr. White asked if the picture marked Exhibit B was taken at the shelter, and Officer Lawrence said the picture was of the dogs he impounded and was taken at the shelter. PAGE 1 MINUTES: 4/3/91 0106 08'76 Kelly Valentine, 6960 S Hwy 97, Redmond, testified the he and his wife were sitting at the breakfast table when he noticed the llamas running around quickly. Their daughter saw a big, black dog chasing them. He ran outside and saw the small tan dog in the pasture but not chasing the llama. The black dog, however, was chasing one of the llamas. The llamas was chased a full loop around the pasture (150 yards) and eventually through the fence and down the road. They spent 30 minutes trying the retrieve the llama. His wife injured her hip and back in the process and ended up in the emergency room the next day. After the llama was returned to the corral, he went looking for the dogs and found them in the back yard of a neighbor's house. A kid there indicated where he thought they belonged. Commissioner Throop asked Mr. Valentine to relate the role the pekinese played in the event. Mr. Valentine said he did not see the pekinese do anything. It was in the same pasture as the poodle when the poodle was chasing the llamas, but he did not see the pekinese chase the llamas. Mr. Valentine said the pekinese was probably just following the poodle. Neither of the dogs was mean. Commissioner Throop asked if there were any injuries to the llamas. Mr. Valentine said he didn't know, and they'd have to check with the llamas' owner, Myer Avedovech. One llama did run through a fence with 10 inch studs and broke two out of the ground. One of the female llamas had been bred a couple of weeks before which cost $3,500 and was a potential loss due to the chase. He said the pekinese was at the top of the pasture and was not involved with chasing the llamas. His wife also saw the chasing. Bruce White asked if Officer Lawrence brought the dogs that were involved in the incident to Mr. Valentine for his identification. Mr. Valentine said he did, and he identified the dogs as those involved in the incident. Bruce White showed Mr. Valentine the picture marked exhibit B and asked if Mr. Valentine could identified the dogs as the same dogs involved in the incident. Mr. Valentine said they were the same dogs. Neither Mr. Avedovech nor Mr. Penhollow were in attendance at this hearing. Kathy Nickel, 1321 NE Hollinshead Drive, Bend, testified that during the week of spring break, she was house sitting for her sister, Mrs. McCoy, and taking care of her standard poodle. While she was there, her dog, a pekinese, was with her. The morning of the incident, both dogs got out, and they were unable to get them back into the yard. She went to work and her mother, who was also visiting, stayed. Her mother said that the pekinese had come home and was in the house when the Officer came with the poodle. The Officer impounded both dogs. The pekinese normally resided with Kathy Nickel in the City in an enclosed yard and had not been outside of her property before. They had allowed the pekinese to PAGE 2 MINUTES: 4/3/91 0106 08'77 chase cattle at her mother's home in the past. The dogs had never been together before, and they were enjoying playing together. She was sure the dogs intended no malice. Commissioner Throop said there was no eye witness who saw the pekinese chasing, but there was an eye witness that saw the poodle chasing. Mr. Valentine said he didn't think the dogs had any intent of malice and didn't want the dogs to be punished severely. Chairman Maudlin said that the Board did not have a great deal of choice in the matter since the County ordinance followed state law. The only determination to be made by the Board was whether or not the dogs were chasing or injuring livestock. Commissioner Throop reiterated that the question was whether there was a chase, an injury, or a kill and if there was, they had no choice but to destroy the dog in a humane fashion. Luree McCoy, 61945 Pettigrew Road, said she was the poodle's owner. She had owned the poodle for less than a year, and the reason she got the dog was because her boys had lost their father to a tragic suicide a year ago, and they needed someone to be attached to. They were on vacation when the incident occurred. Her poodle dog, Tiffany, was normally on a chain. She was just a puppy. Mrs. McCoy said she felt really bad that her dog got out and chased the llamas, but her boys needed their dog. She felt that in certain circumstances of chasing that dogs should be given another chance since it was often the owners fault, not the dogs. Commissioner Schlangen asked Officer Lawrence if he had picked up just the poodle. Officer Lawrence said that when he went to the residence the poodle was outside and the pekinese was inside. Commissioner Throop asked the condition of the dogs when they were picked up. Officer Lawrence said he arrived at the residence about 40 minutes to one hour after the incident and neither dog was sweaty or panting. Commissioner Maudlin said there wasn't any testimony that would indicate the pekinese was chasing the llamas, however the testimony was clear that the poodle chased the llama through a sizeable fence. Commissioner Throop said this was the most difficult vote he had made in his 4-1/2 years as Commissioner, but he didn't see anyway around it either. THROOP: I'll make the motion that we find that the standard poodle was chasing and needs to be dealt with accordingly. PAGE 3 MINUTES: 4/3/91 s SCHLANGEN: Second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS vr~ll To IThroop, Commissioner Nancy Pop Sc langen, Commis4ar Dick Maudlin, Chairman BOCC:alb 0106 0878 PAGE 4 MINUTES: 4/3/91