Avery’s Law creates important changes in dog warden’s office

Ohio’s Avery’s Law House Bill 247 will make an impact on the Holmes County Dog Warden & Adoption Center, and Dog Warden Jonathan Beam met with the Holmes County Commissioners recently to discuss changes that may need to take place to comply with the new law that will go into effect March 20.

Avery’s Law was created to strengthen dangerous dog enforcement by giving local dog wardens enhanced authority to immediately seize dogs involved in attacks and mandating euthanasia for dogs that cause severe injury.

However, the biggest impact for the department will be in the law’s desire to decrease liability to the county and to the dog warden’s department when dealing with adoptable dogs and dogs being housed to shelter on-site.

“This is a good idea. We need more protection from liability,” Commissioner Eric Strouse said.

According to Beam, the changes being made due to Avery’s Law will provide the county will less liability because all the pertinent information on each dog will be in writing and available for individuals seeking to adopt a dog to view prior to the meet-and-greet and adoption process.

He said it also protects his department when out on calls in the community when a reported dog situation comes into their office.

“There is a stipulation (in Avery’s Law) that we can be charged for our shelter dogs,” Beam said. “If somebody were to come in and one of our dogs were to bite somebody, then we could be criminally charged if it happens at our facility.”

One big difference in the dangerous dog act will be the intake forms the department provides for intake and surrender dogs.

The changes in verbiage on the form include the following:

—Has the dog ever chased or attempted to attack or bite a person?

—Has the dog ever bitten a person?

—Has the dog ever seriously injured or killed a person?

—Has the dog previously been designated a nuisance, dangerous or vicious dog?

This increase in input is designed to increase documentation on a dog’s behavior in the kennel and will be used to better evaluate the type of dogs coming into the system.

“There is a heightened civil liability,” Beam said. “If someone adopts a dog and years down the road that dog causes damage, it could fall back to us. The kicker is if we were aware of an issue with a dog and we adopt it out and don’t disclose it to the adopter, that increases the liability on us.”

He said both the criminal side and civil side of people suing for an act of violence from a dangerous dog is a growing concern, and the precautions being put in place will serve as a way for the department to avoid being sued because the pertinent information on a dog will be provided upon any dog being adopted.

It also provides a safety net for the department when individuals come into the facility to meet and greet or view dogs. Beam said basically the new strategies and signage will remove responsibility from the department.

“If years down the road someone tries to sue us, we can say, ‘This is the information we were given.’ If we were not aware of a bite history or dangerous dog designation, that helps us in terms of mitigating any liability,” Beam said.

The new additions also will include updating the kennel’s rules signage with larger and bolder information being displayed, as well as having individuals coming into the shelter to do meet-and-greets sign a waiver form.

In addition, the kennel doors to four of the kennels will be altered so no individual visiting the facility can stick their hands or other body parts into the cages.

“There will be some challenging things moving forward, as to whether we believe we can place a dog or will it be a risk for us,” Beam said. “Ultimately, our goal is to keep the public safe, and if I feel a dog is not safe in the community, it’s not going to leave our facility. We are going to euthanize it.”

Beam said if a dog has a known bite history, the department won’t take it.

“If somebody wants to surrender their dog and it has a bite history, we typically recommend euthanasia,” Beam said. “If it comes to our shelter, that is what typically is going to happen. We recommend the owner does that because we shouldn’t be paying for something the owner has a responsibility to do.”

He said surrenders that come into the system that have a dangerous dog background or bite history are never adopted out.