By a vote of 4-2, the Carroll City Council narrowly upheld a vicious animal designation for a Carroll family’s dog at last night’s (Monday) meeting. The designation for Groot, the lab-Catahoula mix owned by Jared and Sadie Hansen, stems from an Aug. 3 incident in the 800 block of Capistrano Avenue. Carroll Police Chief Brad Burke outlines the circumstances that led to the vicious animal designation.
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Trish Roberts testified she was walking her dog on a leash near the south side of Capistrano Avenue when the Hansens’ dog ran across the yard, and the two dogs began scuffling. Roberts says she dropped her dog’s leash when the altercation started. Hansen ran across the yard and managed to separate the dogs, but she sustained a bite from one of the dogs on her finger, leaving blood stains where the fight ended in the street near the neighboring property’s driveway. Roberts says her dog had numerous injuries requiring veterinary treatment.
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Hansen testified to a similar version of events but disputed where the fight started and said the leash had gotten tangled around her neck and torso while separating the dogs. Hansen claims Roberts’s dog stepped onto the northeast portion of their property, which provoked a defensive response from Groot.
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Regardless of the exact location of the fight’s start, both parties confirmed it would have begun in the area of the yard considered the city right-of-way. Burke says the code is clear regarding public use of rights-of-way.
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Following the testimony, the council voted four in favor of upholding the vicious animal designation and two, Ward 3 Councilman Kyle Bauer and Ward 1 Councilman Tom Bordenaro, against. Full video from Monday’s city council meeting can be found included below.