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There was a full house Thursday night as
DeLeon City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting. Most of
them were there to voice their concern over the death of a pit bull,
who was shot by former DPD officer Richard Hyatt, on October 4, 2006.
Each council member was present to hear
Stephen Shoemaker, the dog’s owner, voice the complaint, but since the
issue was addressed during the citizen’s presentation portion of the
meeting, Mayor Danny Owen reminded everyone that Council members could
not respond or take any action.
When Shoemaker first spoke, he said that
he and his friends were there in response to an agenda item regarding
changes to the animal ordinance -- but was unsure exactly what the
ordinance would entail.
Mayor Owen told him that changes to the
ordinance would be addressed further into the meeting.
“I hope that we can come to some
resolution on some dogs,” Shoemaker then said, “because I’ve got a lot
of dollars in fines. I wouldn’t say I’m being picked on, but everybody
knows who those dogs belong to. It’s not like picking up a dog that’s
not going to be claimed. I understand there’s laws...but my whole
point of getting a dog is keeping him with me, and I’d like to do
that.”
Although he spoke for several more
minutes about his dogs, and animal control, Shoemaker eventually
brought up the subject of a specific pit bull.
“I’d like to discuss my dog getting shot
up there at the shop,” he said, referring to DeLeon Motor Company.
“I’m not asking for any comments from you, I just want to be heard.
This dog was mine, and my kids’, we loved this dog. I have a real hard
time stomaching it. I had to refrain from hitting the officer.”
“We all did,” said one member of the audience.
Shoemaker said he asked the Police Chief
at that time, John McDaniel, about an investigation into the shooting,
since the officer involved in the shooting could have used mace or a
tazer. Shoemaker said at one point that McDaniel “wasn’t going to help
me one bit” adding that it was only through the help of an attorney
that he was able to obtain a copy of the police report.
“He (Hyatt) murdered my dog,” Shoemaker
said. “I’ve got hard feelings on this -- not against anyone in here,
just hard feelings in general. I know what’s done is done. I would
like for my kids to graduate from this school, but I don’t know. If
you haven’t noticed, there’ve been lots of businesses closing. I don’t
know if anybody would be happy if the bodyshop closed or not, but it’s
liable to.”
Shoemaker then said perhaps a “shocking
collar” would help a dog stay on his premises, but implied that
confinement wasn’t necessary. “I’ve got a lot of people who come
there,” he said. “There’s kids, customers and everything else who hang
out at that shop, and I’ve never had a problem with my dogs and
anybody.” Shoemaker then offered insight into what happened that day,
and what might have caused Officer Hyatt to believe the shooting was
justified -- although complete details of the incident were never
presented by anyone.
“In defense of the officer who shot the
dog,” Shoemaker said, “I did speak with the child, and he did tell me,
‘I was scared, I was afraid your dog was going to bite me.’ But I’ve
just never seen any aggression out of him (the dog), but then I wasn’t
there to witness it.”
Shoemaker then said he didn’t know if any
changes would be made, but that more than anything he just wanted to
be heard.
After more discussion about pit bulls in
general, and the perceived prejudices concerning them, (with numerous
comments from those in attendance) Shoemaker said, “As for a lawsuit,
or something like that, what’s done is done, but it did hurt. Nearly
all the people here have had contact with my dog, and for him to put
in the police report “vicious animal” was, in my mind, a blatant lie.”
Johnny Tucker also addressed the council,
saying that he was concerned about the child who witnessed the
shooting, concluding that, “He could be mentally hurt by watching that
happen.”
After more discussion, Mayor Owen
reminded everyone that they were close to “crossing the fine line of
the open meetings act” and suggested that Shoemaker and his friends
might want to be on the agenda for the next council meeting.
Shoemaker said that the people with him
were people that he’d invited, because they’d known his dog. “I can
have five times this many people voicing their opinions on this, that
knew my dog,” he said. “He had a whole lot more friends than that
officer will ever have. I know that for a fact.”
At that point, several in the audience
offered testimonials regarding the dogs favorable disposition. Mayor
Owen reminded all concerned that they needed to be on the agenda for
the next session.
After several routine agenda items were
dispensed with, Council members reached the agenda item regarding the
amendments to the animal ordinances, and the subject came up again.
“The only change to this ordinance is the
number of dogs and cats that a homeowner can have,” Karen Wilkerson,
city secretary, said. The actual ordinance reads: “The city will
permit four animals. This can be four dogs, or four cats, or two dogs
and two cats, or three dogs and one cat, or any combination thereof.
All kittens and puppies shall remain with the mother until they are no
older that 10 weeks of age.” There were also slight modifications
to the section on show 4-H or FFA show animals.
Shoemaker noted that he thought the
amendments to the ordinance, “might possibly pertain to me.” But after
hearing the changes, he said, “I don’t own cats, and I only have two
dogs.”
Discussions then ensued on several other
sections of the existing animal ordinance, including the section on
adoption of animals, which read: “All animals which are adopted
from the animal shelter, shall be surgically altered to prevent
reproduction in that animal.”
Wilkerson noted that that section only
applied to towns with populations over 19,000 and that council members
could remove it from the ordinance if they chose.
“Why would we remove it?” Councilman John
Holdridge said. “We’ve already got stray animals running around.”
“With this ordinance,” Wilkerson said,
“you’re saying ‘you can adopt this animal, but you’ve got 10 days to
have it spayed or neutered’ and the person adopting it might not want
to have it spayed or neutered.”
“But our shelter is staying full of stray
animals,” Gifford said. “Why adopt one out to just produce more stray
animals?”
Wilkerson noted that she was only
advising the council that that section of the ordinance wasn’t
necessary, since DeLeon has a small population.
“I think that stipulation was put in
there,” Rob Duncan, public works administrator, said, “for people who
have their animals picked up numerous times, so it would cost more to
get them out, versus someone else coming in and adopting it. It would
be a lot cheaper just to have your buddy go in and adopt your dog.”
After still more discussion, Shoemaker
said that the person adopting a dog should be allowed to decide
whether the animal should be neutered or not. “I don’t know why you’re
so gung-ho on euthanizing these dogs,” he said. “My dog ain’t a stray.
Yeah, he wanders the block behind the shop, but he gets three meals a
day, and he ain’t done nothing wrong. And it’s costing me a whole lot
of money.” Shoemaker also said that the animal control officer knows
his dogs by name, and that one of his dogs, “ain’t hard to catch, he
loads himself” which resulted in laughter from the crowd.
“The problem is,” said Mayor Owen, “that
there are an abundance of strays getting into the trash, and
complaints from neighbors and the community are what’s led to this.”
This statement led to still another
discussion about dogs at large, with many people talking all at once,
until one unidentified person in the audience said, “What if you have
a big, strong dog that won’t stay on a chain and won’t stay in a fence
-- do we just look forward to our dog being shot?”
“It’ll be picked up if it’s in the city,”
Mayor Owen said. “You’ll have to get some kind of device to hold it,
or a fence tall enough that it won’t jump over, or dig out.”
After more discussion and comments from
the audience members, Shoemaker said, “This is just a small portion of
people who would voice their opinion very loudly, I mean very loudly.”
“We’re just trying to get it to where we
can control it,” Owen said. “The burden is on the owner of the pet.
You take care of it. You keep it up.”
After another burst of conversation about
dogs, including Councilman Johnnye Howell discussing the danger of
strays and rabies, someone in the audience said that a certain group
of dog owners felt like their animals were the only ones being picked
up.
At that point, audience member, and
former council member, LaJoyce Johnson said, “I want to say something
for the other side. I would like to see every dog that is out running
the streets picked up. I don’t think there should be a one left
running around.”
This resulted in several more outbursts
until Councilman John Holdridge said, “It seems to me, the ordinance
is fairly clear. If you have a dog in the city limits, and it runs
loose, it is subject to being picked up. If you have a dog, and either
can’t, or won’t, keep it confined, then it is subject to being picked
up.”
“That’s what happened to the Jews in
World War II,” Shoemaker said. “They got picked up and marched right
in.”
Mayor Owen reminded Shoemaker that if he
wanted to discuss the situation further, he had to get on the agenda
for the next meeting, and then thanked everyone for coming and
expressing their opinions. Shoemaker apologized, and said he’d be back
for the next meeting, and that he was trying to go through the proper
procedures.
The subject of an additional police
officer for the DeLeon Police Department was also on the agenda
Thursday night, and Mayor Owen announced that he’d like to adjourn
into executive session.
Immediately following the executive
session, Councilman Howard Gifford said, “I make a motion that we hire
Ben Rowell as a police officer for the City of DeLeon.” The motion
passed with Mayor Danny Owen providing the only dissenting vote.
In other business, Council members:
• Approved, at the request of Councilman
Howard Gifford, compensation for lost vacation time for police
officers who couldn’t take time off because of under-staffing.
• Approved, on second reading, Ordinance
# 001-07 regarding noise, with one change to exclude utility trucks
(loud radio traffic, etc.)
• Approved, on first reading, Ordinance #
002-07, amending Ordinance #025-03, placing restrictions on the use
and operation of motor assisted scooters. Wilkerson noted the only
change was to the section on motor size, which was changed from 40
cubic centimeters or less, to 50 cubic centimeters or less.
• Skipped agenda item eight, described as
“request by Dwight Clark, regarding fire arms,” due to Clark’s
absence.
• Heard a report on the Texas Parks and
Wildlife grant regarding the new festival grounds, with Mayor Owen
noting that “it was a booming place out there,” with three dirt movers
in action and playground equipment scheduled to arrive the next
morning. Wilkerson provided council members with an update on
financial matters concerning the park, and Councilman Gifford
discussed the immediate, and urgent, need for volunteer labor very
soon.
In the open discussion between city
officials and city employees, Police Chief Ralph Dickey noted that an
investigation into the recent vandalism at the DeLeon Elementary
School has been successful. “We know who they are,” Dickey said.
“We’ve gotten written statements from witnesses, and from people they
told. The school was a great help in doing that.” Dickey said there
was other evidence as well. “So we have caught them,” he added, “and
the rest is up to the courts.” |
