Audit finds shortcomings in how Dallas investigates aggressive and dangerous dogs.
A recent audit found flaws in Dallas' process for investigating and determining whether a dog is aggressive or dangerous.In July, three dogs attacked and killed 4-year-old Lea Janae Freeman in southeast Oak Cliff. Both the neighbor who reported the attack to 911 and Freeman's mother, Tiara, told that the dogs had gotten loose in the neighborhood and threatened people several times before.
A dog is designated as dangerous if it commits an unprovoked attack causing bodily injury. It doesn’t have to cause bodily harm to be designated as dangerous, though. The dog could also be labeled dangerous if an unprovoked attack gives someone reason to believe it could cause bodily harm. The biggest shortcoming the audit found was an ineffective hearing process meant to ensure that owners of aggressive dogs were in compliance. Due to the way this section of city code was written in 2018, Dallas can’t hold legitimate and effective compliance hearings for owners of aggressive dogs.
Bollinger said, “In clarifying the ordinances, the hearings process will be similar to that of the dangerous dog noncompliance hearings, which the audit found to be far more effective.” Investigations can usually be concluded in eight days – longer than the seven-day target – but they can hit a few snags along the way that extend the process to nearly three months. It may take time for a notice to investigate to hit the animal services department's inbox, which can cause delays. From there, it may take time for the agency to get to the investigation, and the final determination after the fact could cause the whole process to take even longer.
“Online registries of dangerous and aggressive dogs included duplicate entries and were not updated during a seven-month period in 2021,” the audit says.
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