Grant committee to explore animal-control issues

COLFAX – The Grant Parish Police Jury voted unanimously Thursday night to form a committee to draft ordinances dealing with animal-control issues.

The move comes two weeks after a dog attack on 85-year-old Bobbie Cheveallier near Pollock. Cheveallier died Nov. 29 at Rapides Regional Medical Center. An investigation is continuing into the circumstances surrounding the attack, but some of the dogs and owners have been identified.

No other information is available for release yet, said Grant Sheriff Steve McCain.

Both he and Alexandria Animal Shelter Superintendent Henry Wimbley addressed jurors about how they might approach animal-control issues in the mostly rural parish.

McCain said he spent part of Thursday meeting with Julia Breaux-Melancon, the Louisiana state director for the Humane Society of the United States. It was her second trip to the parish, he said.

A lawyer, Breaux-Melancon left suggestions for a potential ordinance on how and when an animal could be deemed vicious or dangerous, he said. McCain asked that jurors consider that language.

Wimbley told jurors that his department tries to make people more accountable for their pets. He said Alexandria has an ordinance requiring dogs and cats to be registered with the city, although he admitted that not all citizens comply.

However, if an Alexandria resident's pet ends up at the city's animal shelter, they must present proof of compliance with ordinances on pet ownership before they can retrieve the animal, he said.

The superintendent said jurors are tasked with discovering what issues face the parish and what solutions will work for them. But, he said, the answers won't be any good without manpower to back it up. He said once his department had a plan in place, they then hired personnel to make it work.

Wimbley also said his department works with the Rapides Parish Sheriff Office's animal-control division to get out into communities and to know the residents — both two- and four-legged ones. And while he said that some residents know officers by name, sometimes all it takes for people to comply is to see them.

"Even just driving through with an animal control truck will make people put their dogs up," he said.

Wimbley stressed that it takes time to see progress. "Once you start a program like that, it may take awhile before it filters through the whole parish but, eventually, it will start to work," he said.

Juror Brandon Dubois asked Wimbley if Rapides Parish also had ordinances smiliar to Alexandria. "No, they don't, and that's where we fall short," said Wimbley.

But Wimbley told Dubois that, if Grant Parish passes an ordinance, it would apply to all residents throughout the parish and its incorporated areas.

Dubois also asked if Alexandria charged a fee to register animals. Wimbley said yes, and that the city follows Louisiana's guidelines on how much to charge. The annual fees range from $8 to $16 per pet, according to whether or not it is altered.

Juror Don Arnold asked Wimbley about handling vicious breeds, but Wimbley said the question of viciousness isn't based on breed. He said any dog could be vicious, and that those cases are handled individually. He also said Alexandria follows Louisiana's statues on how to determine if a dog is vicious or dangerous.

"We said any dog, whether it's a Rottweiler or a Chihuahua," he said. "We didn't go breed-specific; we went by the acts themselves."

Wimbley said Alexandria did designate pit bulls as vicious in the past. "At that time, it was a problem for us," he said.

Arnold, who acknowledged that members have a "mountain of information" to sift through, said the jury needs to address the issue because "a person lost her life because of dogs."

The members of the committee are Arnold, Winston Roberts and President Arnold Murrell.