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Councilmember Tommy Wells will be teaming up with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Washington Humane Society (WHS) to announce a partnership to reduce dog bites in Ward 6 through education, outreach and tougher dog ownership laws. Councilmember Wells stated “We have a serious dog bite problem in our communities, especially with young children who suffer most of the dog bites. Too many of our neighborhoods have a dog living on the block where the owner is negligent or irresponsible and the neighbors suffer either from living in fear or too often from actual injury. I am looking forward to collaborating with the Department of Health and the Humane Society to improve the education to our residents about how to be safe around dogs.” Department of Health officials and Ms. Lisa LaFontaine, President and CEO, Washington Humane Society will be on hand to kick-off the joint effort at the Ward 6 Family Day picnic on June 20 at 1:00 at Rosedale Recreation Center at 1700 Gales Street, NE. The Department of Health is happy to announce that the Washington Humane Society will have its mobile adoption RV along with an animal cruelty investigator, animal control officer and humane education specialist to teach children and adults how to keep pets and people safe around dogs. “The Washington Humane Society works at preventing dog bites with programs based on scientific analysis of what causes the bites to occur,” states Ms. Lafontaine. “Programs such as low cost sterilization, dog obedience training, anti-cruelty and direct education of children in the school system are all designed to help address this important public safety issue,” continues Ms. Lafontaine. The program will continue through the summer and into the fall with continued outreach and taking the message directly to young children through an education program in District schools. Councilmember Wells plans to introduce legislation that will make it harder for negligent and high-risk dog owners to possess and increase the number of dogs they own. “Laws that target the dog and not the owner have been proven to be ineffective; I will focus on the owner and make it harder for reckless owners to continue to keep dogs. The education campaign along with tougher laws will go a long way toward making Ward 6 a safe place for children to play,” said Wells.
Readers have left 4 comments. (1) Untitled
2009-06-19 07:36:54 When is this city going to enforce the leash laws? Is the lack of enforcement because it's mostly a white people's crime? (2) Untitled
2009-06-21 11:07:10 When are leash laws going to be enforced? (3) Untitled
2009-06-23 14:55:35 I have contacted the Department of Health (DOH) which is responsible for animal control in the District. Animal Control Officers under contract to DOH and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers are authorized to enforce the leash laws. They recommend that if you witness any violation of the laws you call in your complaint and if possible, let the dispatcher know where the animal lives so the officer can leave a notice advising the owner of the law. You can call either 311 or directly to animal Care and control at 202-576-6664.
(4) Untitled
2009-07-01 16:08:24 Are there any laws prohibiting dogs from playgrounds? I often find dog owners using the neighborhood play area as a dog park. |
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