CORDOVA — After hearing from a local resident, the Cordova City Councul approved changes to how it will enforce its dog ordinance.
Twila Richardson spoke to council members about her experience going through the dog ordinance process, which she said took three years.
“From the time I first contacted my neighbor about the problem until we went to court, it was three years,” Richardson said. “That’s not all on the city. That’s not all on me. It just took that long for many reasons, but I think it did take too long.”
While telling about her issues with a neighbor’s dogs, Richardson said members of the Cordova Police Department responded about the issue several times.
“An officer who responded would leave, or we would have a change in chief, and it was like it would have to start the process over,” she said.
Mayor Jeremy Pate said he felt the overall dog ordinance was fine, but he brought up and issue with the city’s dog ordinance violation procedure, which he recommended rescinding to help speed up the process to solve dog ordinance issues.
Richardson also told council members that she felt the municipal judge dismissive of the situation and was only gave the neighbor a $10 fine.
“That’s barely a slap in the hand. A few days later, the dogs were already causing problems again,” she said.
Pate said the fine is determined at the discretion of the judge, but the city could look into setting a minimum fine amount.
The change voted by the council will allow the city to enforce the dog ordinance quicker, as well as, allowing for more case by case actions, Pate said.
“If it’s something minor, it could be a warning to start with and a citation if it continues,” he said. “If it’s a major issue, we could issue a citation without a warning. This will make it easier to get the issue to court faster on a case by case basis.”
Pate said the city would post more details on social media about how the cases will be handled.
