Nuisance dogs could be taken

An owner could have his dogs taken away if he doesn’t address the ongoing issue of the dogs barking.

The dogs, located on Grand Coulee Avenue, are constantly barking and running at large, resulting in 20 calls made through Multi Agency Communication Center dispatch in 2018 alone. Each call cost the city $29.42, or $588.40 total.

Police Chief John Tufts said that whoever reports the dogs doesn’t want to just call the police station directly, and may be calling the non-emergency MACC number, which charges the city the same rate as it would for an emergency 911 call.

The owner of the dogs has been issued seven tickets, none of which has been paid. “He has made no effort to take care of any of this,” said City Clerk Lorna Pearce.

The council has voted to declare the dogs as nuisance animals, and can take the matter to municipal court, where a judge could make the owner get rid of the dogs if he continues to ignore the issue. If the owner failed to get rid of the dogs, then the city would have authority to take them. The dogs would be taken either to the local veterinarian to find a new home for them or to a place in Moses Lake that can rehome them, Pearce said.

“It’s not the dogs’ fault,” remarked Councilmember Tammara Byers. “It’s the owner.”

Mayor Paul Townsend explained that it’s more like a citation on the owner than on the dogs, and that it’s mainly just one of the dogs that is bothering people.