Increased reports of dog bites lead to changes in city code

Complaints about animals and increased reports of dog bites in Newton have prompted the city council to revisit its codes, which have now been updated to include limitations to tethering, signage for underground fencing and a new designation for dangerous dogs while also re-defining vicious dogs.

Newton City Council on March 20 adopted the updated animals ordinance, which was bolstered by residents who called upon their officials to make changes that better protect victims and hold dog owners accountable when an incident occurs. Staff introduced the updated proposal in February.

Here are some of the changes to the code:

• Cleans language eliminating references to the Jasper County Animal Rescue League.

• Allows dogs to be off leash in a dog park.

• Requires signage for property owners who use underground fencing to contain dogs.

• Adds prohibitions and limitations on tethering during certain time periods.

• Adds a dangerous dog designation and re-defines vicious dog.

• Requires quarantine in most dog bite cases that occur in public.

• Expands the definitions of injury to: fatal, disabling, serious and minor.

• Prohibits dogs deemed dangerous or vicious in other jurisdictions from residing in Newton.

• Prohibits dogs deemed problematic from using city-owned dog parks.

• Increases the insurance requirement for problematic and dangerous dogs from $50,000 to $125,000.

Council member Vicki Wade asked for further clarification on the no-tether rule. Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess said his department based the proposal off of “expert research,” but he did not have the information on him at the meeting. Regardless, council member Melissa Dalton offered her interpretation.

“You can’t put your dog out all night long for it to bark consistently,” Dalton said of the tether curfew, which prohibits unattended tethering between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day. “You can still take it outside to let it go to the bathroom and stuff, but you can’t have it on a tether all night long between those hours.”

In August 2022, Newton residents Max Tipton and Donna Stumme urged city council to revisit its dogs ordinance; the former’s 78-year-old wife, Kathy Tipton, even suffered a dog bite outside her home. Stumme shared stories of aggressive dogs and suggested the ordinance does not support victims of bite incidents.

Stumme has repeatedly praised city staff for listening to residents and thanked the council for approving each reading of the ordinance. At the Feb. 20 meeting, she was overjoyed by the efforts from the city but stopped herself from speaking further in case she got too emotional.

“High applause,” she said. “I’ve got to sit down or I’m going to start tearing up. This has been immense and you’re staying ahead.”

All dogs declared “vicious” by the city prior to the passage of the updated ordinance will be re-classified as “dangerous” dogs.

A vicious dog is the most severe classification and is defined as any dog declared an unacceptable risk to public safety. Vicious dogs will have caused the death or disabling injury to a person, or have on more than one occasion killed or inflicted injury on a domestic animal.

Dangerous dogs are defined as dogs that pose a risk to public safety. They will have, on any single occasion, caused an injury to a person that is less severe than fatal or a disabling injury; they will have killed or have inflicted a fatal injury to another domestic animal; or they have been engaged in fighting.

Problematic dogs, the less severe of the classifications, are those that cause a non-life-threatening injury; chase vehicles or threaten or aggressively barks or growls or interferes with people or other domestic animals; or has a propensity to attack persons or domestic animals unprovoked.

Dogs that have been running at large or impounded or whose owners have been cited by the police department three times for running at large in a one-year period may also be considered problematic. The police chief will determine the classification of dogs who have exhibited these unruly behaviors.