Council directs staff to draft new leash law

Three hours into a meeting that started with an hour of public comment exorciating the city council for current regulations regarding pet breeding and off-leash dogs, members voted to tie one of those issues up.

With Councilman Steve Walton leading the charge, the council voted 3-2, with Councilman Matt Fox and Councilwoman Cokie Booth dissenting, to direct city staff to draft a text amendment to the city’s leash law removing the exception for animals under voice control.

This does not mean that the law changed this week. The city attorney will now go back and draft changes that will be brought back before council for a vote. Given the passions on both sides of the issue, it is safe to expect that the shouting on this one is not yet over and just one council member caving to the minority of residents who want to let their animals roam off-leash in public would change the outcome.

But, at least as of today, it appears that the heretofore unenforceable (per both the police chief and the animal control supervisor) leash law in Boulder City is on track to get tightened up and brought into balance with every other municipality in the region.

The current law was last discussed back in early 2022 and current mayor pro tempore Sherri Jorgensen was the only member of the current council also on the dais nearly three years ago. In that vote, she supported keeping the exemption in place. But she said on Tuesday that times and the sheer number of animals in city parks had made her change her mind.

“I am not someone who wants to over-regulate every little thing,” she said. “But I bet that at this point, there are more dogs in this town than there are children. I wish that all of those dog owners were responsible. But too many are not and I think we need to do something.”

Walton and Mayor Joe Hardy agreed. Fox appeared to be opposed to the change philosophically and Booth said she would be OK with the change if there were additional dog parks in other parts of town. Currently, both of the city’s areas for off-leash dogs (outside of the exemption) are in Veterans Memorial Park.

In a second action, the council directed staff to draft changes to animal control ordinances, making minor offenses (such as having a dog off-leash or failing to clean up after them) civil rather than criminal. According to both Police Chief Tim Shea and Animal Control Supervisor Ann Inabnitt, the fact that all violations were criminal made enforcement next to impossible. The council provided direction to staff on a slew of issues regarding animal control on Tuesday night including opting not to change the age of mandatory spaying and neutering of pets and a long discussion about microchipping, which will be covered in a future issue.

Inabnitt’s presence could be felt in everything from the presentation on licensing by Shea to the more than 20 public comments but she was not physically present at the meeting. After an email went around town last weekend saying that Inabnitt was “not allowed” to attend the meeting, she told the Review that “you are free to say I was not invited to attend or to speak.”

Addressing the issue, a city spokesperson said in an email: “It is customary for department heads to present to city council — this is a part of their job description. While department heads sometimes ask staff to be in attendance to help answer questions, the police chief felt it was not necessary for this meeting. Having staff present is an additional cost to the city. The police chief has developed this animal licensing presentation with the help of Animal Control Supervisor Ann Inabnitt and her supervisor, Lt. Vince Albowicz, who is also well-versed in issues related to animal control.

“This is only a presentation on the agenda. The other item is simply seeking direction on policy from the city council, as they were elected by the citizens of Boulder City to formulate policy. Any text amendments would be brought back to city council at a later time. No final action is being taken at this time.”

In the past several weeks, Inabnitt unexpectedly announced her retirement after sending a letter to several members of city staff outlining her frustrations about a number of issues, most prominently a push by City Attorney Brittany Walker to change the age of mandatory sterilization from five months of age to six and moves toward allowing for permitted animal breeding.

On Tuesday the council opted not to change the sterilization age and put any moves toward opening up breeding on hold while the city awaits a formal opinion from Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford regarding the intent of state law.

Six weeks ago, it seemed like the council was poised to approve changing city code to create a path for breeders to get a permit. Walker addressed what happened next.

“Given the immense issue of public policy this is in our community, I felt it was important to clarify the issue once and for all,” she told the council. “The law allows the city attorney to seek an attorney general opinion interpreting provisions of Nevada state law. I thought this was a good opportunity to utilize this provision and seek the attorney general’s clarification on whether the state law allows a city to prohibit breeding or whether, as it states on its face, it requires the city to regulate breeding.”

That might make it sound like Walker was acting independently out of an abundance of caution. In truth, the council, under her advice, was ready to pass this until the Review asked if any attempt had been made to clarify the intent of state law given the current crisis of overcrowded shelters and pet overpopulation.

At that time, a city spokesperson told the Review, “While the city attorney is confident in her interpretation of NRS 574.353, these are important matters of policy that the city council must decide. Accordingly, the city has decided to put this on hold and the city attorney will be requesting an attorney general interpretation of NRS 574.353.”

And the breeding issue has caused an uproar. Local resident Brynn deLorimier started an online petition, which has gathered more than 500 signatures so far urging Ford to adopt an interpretation of the NRS 574.353 finding that cities can either allow breeding with a permit or prohibit the practice entirely.

deLorimier addressed the council during public comment touching on both the breeding and leash law issues.

“Just two years ago, I was bitten myself, just walking through Broadbent Park,” she said. “I still have four scars. And it was just from walking through the park at night. I didn’t see the dog coming until he latched onto my leg. It was a vicious dog. The owner said he was still training it and didn’t expect to see anybody out at night. It happens all the time. You walk through Wilbur Square and somebody’s dog runs up to you and they say, ‘Oh, he’s friendly.’ I don’t know that. And I would say that a dog running up to me is not under voice command at all.”

A group of five pre-teens also addressed the council. They are all members of a group called the Rainbow Readers that is run by Devon Tilman, spouse of justice of the peace-elect Christopher Tilman. The kids go to the shelter once a month and read to the animals to help calm and socialize them.

The first to speak was Lily Runco, age 11. “Hi,” she began as she fiddled with the microphone. “This is pretty cool. I’ve never been at a podium like this. I wish people would stop breeding animals. There are so many animals in shelters that need good homes. Breeding leads to overpopulation. They are coming in to shelters faster than they can go out.”

As noted earlier, she may not have been in the room, but Inabnitt’s presence loomed large anyway with many of the members of the public who spoke invoking her name. As did Shea at the end of his presentation.

“When I came here in 2016, I looked at the new animal control supervisor who was all by herself,” he recalled. “We had no animal control officers. We had a part-time kennel worker. And I looked at her and said, ‘We’re gonna have an animal shelter, not an animal concentration camp.’ “

Shea continued, “I, for one, am very sad to see her retire. I don’t want anyone to think that I am taking credit for anything that happened up there,” he said referring to the shelter. “It’s not me. We have an exceptional person up there and she has done things far above and beyond what any other employee would ever possibly do.”

Walton at the end of Shea’s presentation said, “Thanks for bringing a culture of excellence.”

“Ann brought the culture,” Shea replied. “I just facilitated it.”