Dog owners in Marshalltown might face higher levels of accountability if their canines get out. A new task force is being formed, one that addresses dogs running loose and posing a danger to the community.

At Tuesday night’s Marshalltown City Council meeting, Mayor Joel Greer authorized the creation of the task force. Yesterday, he said it is time for pertinent city codes to be rewritten.

“We should have graduated fines because some dogs get out repeatedly,” Greer said. “The first offense should be enough to dissuade them, but some people don’t care. So, the second offense should be higher. With the second or third offense, there should be requirements for vaccinations and insurance.”

Another code the mayor would like the task force and the city to consider is tethering. Greer said some cities do not allow dogs to be unattended and tethered for more than four hours at a time. He also said they need to figure out who would enforce the codes, and then who would determine if a dog should be euthanized, if the situation is warranted.

Marshalltown resident Jim Shaw has brought his concerns about dogs running loose to the city council for a while. Greer said the city is taking action now because of the increased number of fines and reports – more than he can remember.

“People are not getting the message,” he said. “It is time to make it harder on owners to be bad owners. The real problem in town is not the dogs, it is the owners. They don’t care if their dogs run loose or bite someone, and they should. The owners should have bigger penalties.”

Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Marshalltown Executive Director Austin Gillis said they have absolutely seen many more dogs running loose than in previous years.

“We have been told that some of the infrastructure upgrades in the city were to blame for several of the animals getting loose,” he said. “After that the next most common cause is from deterioration of gates, leashes, fences and tethers. It is always a good idea to inspect the items used to keep control of our pets.”

Safety concern

Shaw has brought the council stories of dangerous dog incidents and has agreed to serve on the task force. At Tuesday’s meeting, he told the council about four dogs running around town.

“We have a dog problem,” he said. “There were four loose dogs last week. A German shepherd, a pitbull, a Doberman and a Rottweiler. All of them are potentially dangerous breeds.”

Shaw would like to see the city take some action in two to three months.

“I’m concerned about someone getting hurt,” he said. “The loose Rottweiler was after a little girl and I was told he had her by the hair, which is close to the face. Her dad intervened. We also had a female mail carrier get her hand pretty mangled. My girlfriend had a dog killed by a pitbull several years ago. People not having the dogs on a leash is a problem.”

According to Gillis, there is no perfect answer as to what a person can do when confronted by an aggressive canine.

“Depending on the animal and the situation, usually the best thing to do is not panic and run away,” he said. “You would want to become either a non-threat to the animal or make yourself uninteresting to the animal.”

Residents can try to do that by not freezing and staring at a loose dog. Gillis said even a friendly dog can be triggered by a stare-down. People can look away from the animal but keep it in their peripheral vision. They should be quiet or talk in a light, friendly voice, like a baby voice.

“I can’t tell you how many times just using baby talk has kept me from having issues with an untrusting dog,” he said. “There are tools that can be taken on a walk with you that are not super expensive or intrusive. For example, the ARL and many other rescues use small air horns as a deterrent or distraction. It not only will confuse the animal but it will also let people nearby know that there is potentially an issue. There are also air blast pet correction cans that blast a quick puff of air at the animal. The other options would be to keep some sort of chemical irritant spray with you as well, such as bear spray.”

Gillis said whenever there is a big concern from the community, it is a good idea for city leaders to look into it.

“I agree with some of our community members on a serious uptick in animals running loose and posing a danger to our community,” he said. “I do not think any specific breed of dog should be the target of enforcement. That said, no dog of any breed should be running at large. While the bigger dogs are better equipped to cause damage, little dogs can be a serious hazard as well.”

Organizing a task force to discuss the obstacles and strategies to overcome the problem can make a big difference, Gillis said. The ARL can only do so much.

“A common misconception is that the ARL has the same authority as the police department. We do not,” he said.

The ARL can pick up stray dogs and find them good homes. They also provide classes to Marshalltown residents on animal welfare and urged people to watch the ARL website and Facebook page for upcoming educational classes. They have partnered with the House of Compassion and other local venues to host classes.

Gillis added that the ARL is open to requests the city may have to help in the efforts to reduce the number of dogs at large.

A very important thing residents can do to help the overall situation, Gillis said, is spay and neuter pets.

“[The] number one reason we see dogs running loose is because they are intact males following their noses to the nearest lady friend, and when you have the nose of a dog, your lady friend could be miles away,” he said.

Keeping animals up to date on vaccines is also very important to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, such as parvo. Gillis stressed inspecting fences and leashes to ensure everything is in good shape before trusting it to control fluffy family members.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.