Mebane’s city council adopted a proposed new ordinance Monday night aimed at providing more teeth for the city’s enforcement against homeowners whose dogs may pose a threat to other dogs or residents.
Mebane police chief Mitch McKinney had told the council last month that the city’s proposed new ordinance is “trying to mirror language of state statute” in order to stay on “good solid enforcement grounds” for enforcing its new ordinance.
The council made two changes to the police chief’s proposal – opting not to get into how long a leash to require for walking dogs in the city and allowing dogs to be off a leash when they’re in any fenced dog park.
The chief had added a 6-foot leash requirement to the proposal since he first outlined his proposal at the council’s August 5 meeting.
Councilmen Tim Bradley and Jonathan White led the questioning, skeptical about having a specified leash length and relayed that that proposal was the aspect of the proposed ordinance they had heard the most resident feedback about, mostly negative. Mayor Ed Hooks, who does not vote, said he had heard such opposition, as well, to a leash length requirement.
During public comments earlier in the meeting, Larisa Cioaca said she was “appalled” by the proposed 6-foot leash requirement, saying it represented rules “designed for mega cities” like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, which she said was an “absurd” standard for Mebane. She urged the council to reject “the unnecessary and heavy-handed” requirement.
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Ultimately White made the motion to accept the chief’s ordinance revision, with the exception of no leash length specified and removing the leash requirement altogether when dogs are in an enclosed public dog park. The vote was unanimous, 5-0.
Background
Police chief McKinney spent about an hour at the council’s August 5 meeting, outlining the proposal and its origins.
The impetus for the ordinance was described as being two incidents – one last November 6, and another on June 21 – involving the same dog owner in the Fair Oaks subdivision.
Criminal charges were filed in both cases, according to the chief, although he acknowledged that the November cases had been dropped.
Both cases involved Randall Dwayne Gerringer, 801 Stuart Court, Mebane. The November 2023 case involved a case of a dog-on-dog attack by two [of Gerringer’s] dogs, McKinney told the council last month. Both dogs were identified as “dangerous dogs,” under the city’s existing ordinance, and they were seized, chief McKinney told the council, and sent to South Carolina for rehabilitation.
The original August court date to handle the June charges has now been continued until October.
Fair Oaks resident speaks of concerns
The city got a petition from 35 residents of the Fair Oaks community in December, raising concerns about what the residents said was a “lack of response by the city” to dog attacks over the prior 18 months.
One resident, Terry Fleitz, raised concerns about the city’s lack of response during public comments at the August 5 meeting. On Monday night, Fleitz was generally supportive of the new ordinance.
However, Fleitz reiterated his support for having stronger consequences for the owners of a dangerous dog, such as a requirement for a dangerous dog owner to attend a class, prohibiting the owner of a dangerous dog from owning other dogs, and also those who own a potentially dangerous dog.
Fleitz had included in his August comments a recommendation for a leash length requirement “of no more than 10 feet, preferably 6 feet,” he told the council. Fleitz said that one of the pit bull owners walks his dog with a “25 foot leash, next to children and families on our sidewalks.”
Fleitz said that when walking his own dog in the neighborhood, he now carries a “police baton for protection on our neighborhood sidewalks.”
Fleitz said that Fair Oaks residents like himself “continue to be fearful” and have to change their behavior “while the pit bull owners have not changed their behavior.”
