Nampa child's parents say dog hearings unfair!
A panel in Nampa deemed the dog that mauled a 3-year-old to be legally 'not vicious.'
The city of Nampa is reviewing its vicious-animal codes in the wake of a dog attack on a 3-year-old girl who needed 17 stitches to close the wound across her face.
The parents of the girl - who live next door to the dog that bit her - want victims to have the right to challenge a decision that a dog is dangerous.
"Our No. 1 goal is that nobody else go through this," said Joe Knehans, who has been urging city officials to reconsider laws and processes since a citizen panel decided the dog that bit his daughter Aug. 27 wasn't, by legal definition, vicious.
Knehans and his wife believe the neighbor's off-leash dog that attacked their daughter, Charity, as she played in their front yard is vicious and a public threat.
The dog is a 17-month-old yellow Lab owned by Christie McDaniel, according to a report by the Nampa Police Department.
"My daughter is absolutely traumatized. We're working to get her counseling," Joe Knehans said Thursday. "She will not set foot outside my door without me holding her."
But a three-member citizen panel in Nampa determined at a vicious-dog hearing that the dog that bit Charity was not vicious.
"The panel hammered us on whether or not she (Charity) could have thrown some dirt or provoked the dog," Joe Knehans said. "There was a lack of evidence that my daughter didn't provoke the dog."
Charity's mother, Lisa Knehans, was in the front yard talking to McDaniel when the attack happened but didn't witness it.
According to the police report, neighbor Julie Watson saw Charity near the yellow Lab and the Knehans' dog, a BLACK LAB - two dogs with no history of fighting - just prior to the attack. Nothing in the report indicated that Watson saw the girl taunting or provoking the dog.
The Knehanses sought to appeal the panel's decision but were told that an appeal is not an option for bite victims. Only dog owners may appeal the decisions of vicious-dog hearings.
"We need a way for the victims to appeal the decision," said Curtis Homer, a former Nampa police chief and current member of the Nampa City Council.
Homer said he thinks it's time to update the ordinances, which he said have been in effect since the late 1980s.
Nampa Mayor Tom Dale said Homer and other members of the community will work with the city attorney to review the vicious-animal codes and procedures.
"Our job is the protection of people," Dale said.
This issue is not unique to Nampa.
The city's vicious animal codes and processes are similar to those in Boise. Both cities allow injured parties to request a vicious-dog hearing.
In Nampa, the dog's fate rests in the hands of a three-member citizen panel, which determines if the dog meets the legal definition of vicious.
But in Boise, Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, executive director of the Idaho Humane Society, presides at the vicious-dog hearings.
"It seems like every year we talk about these laws and doing something to change them," said Rosenthal, who has worked on drafting state legislation to address vicious-animal issues more widely.
He says the dog bite issues are serious enough for the parties involved that they should be adjudicated in court from the get-go.
"I'm not a big believer in these informal (vicious-dog) hearings. There's just no rules behind them. I don't feel like they protect the rights of either party," Rosenthal said.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
A panel in Nampa deemed the dog that mauled a 3-year-old to be legally 'not vicious.'
The city of Nampa is reviewing its vicious-animal codes in the wake of a dog attack on a 3-year-old girl who needed 17 stitches to close the wound across her face.
The parents of the girl - who live next door to the dog that bit her - want victims to have the right to challenge a decision that a dog is dangerous.
"Our No. 1 goal is that nobody else go through this," said Joe Knehans, who has been urging city officials to reconsider laws and processes since a citizen panel decided the dog that bit his daughter Aug. 27 wasn't, by legal definition, vicious.
Knehans and his wife believe the neighbor's off-leash dog that attacked their daughter, Charity, as she played in their front yard is vicious and a public threat.
The dog is a 17-month-old yellow Lab owned by Christie McDaniel, according to a report by the Nampa Police Department.
"My daughter is absolutely traumatized. We're working to get her counseling," Joe Knehans said Thursday. "She will not set foot outside my door without me holding her."
But a three-member citizen panel in Nampa determined at a vicious-dog hearing that the dog that bit Charity was not vicious.
"The panel hammered us on whether or not she (Charity) could have thrown some dirt or provoked the dog," Joe Knehans said. "There was a lack of evidence that my daughter didn't provoke the dog."
Charity's mother, Lisa Knehans, was in the front yard talking to McDaniel when the attack happened but didn't witness it.
According to the police report, neighbor Julie Watson saw Charity near the yellow Lab and the Knehans' dog, a BLACK LAB - two dogs with no history of fighting - just prior to the attack. Nothing in the report indicated that Watson saw the girl taunting or provoking the dog.
The Knehanses sought to appeal the panel's decision but were told that an appeal is not an option for bite victims. Only dog owners may appeal the decisions of vicious-dog hearings.
"We need a way for the victims to appeal the decision," said Curtis Homer, a former Nampa police chief and current member of the Nampa City Council.
Homer said he thinks it's time to update the ordinances, which he said have been in effect since the late 1980s.
Nampa Mayor Tom Dale said Homer and other members of the community will work with the city attorney to review the vicious-animal codes and procedures.
"Our job is the protection of people," Dale said.
This issue is not unique to Nampa.
The city's vicious animal codes and processes are similar to those in Boise. Both cities allow injured parties to request a vicious-dog hearing.
In Nampa, the dog's fate rests in the hands of a three-member citizen panel, which determines if the dog meets the legal definition of vicious.
But in Boise, Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, executive director of the Idaho Humane Society, presides at the vicious-dog hearings.
"It seems like every year we talk about these laws and doing something to change them," said Rosenthal, who has worked on drafting state legislation to address vicious-animal issues more widely.
He says the dog bite issues are serious enough for the parties involved that they should be adjudicated in court from the get-go.
"I'm not a big believer in these informal (vicious-dog) hearings. There's just no rules behind them. I don't feel like they protect the rights of either party," Rosenthal said.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
