Honk News (Huntsville, MO) – A father from Huntsville, who is also a dog owner, is currently facing charges for allegedly endangering a child’s welfare and is being held on a cash-only bond set at $10,000.
An afternoon spent alone at home resulted in his 13-year-old daughter needing five surgeries following an attack by seven dogs belonging to the family.
A local resident, who wished to remain unnamed, reported that the dogs had a reputation for being aggressive among those in the community.
He and others had previously tried to lodge complaints regarding the dogs’ behavior.
“Just recently it got worse. So I contacted the sheriff’s office and the one person that I did know who lived at the house and the person that lived there said that he was going to get rid of the dogs the police told me that it was a city ordinance thing so there was nothing that they could do about it unless the dogs were actively attacking someone,” said the neighbor.
A neighbor observed the incident from their window at approximately 1:10 p.m., as detailed in the probable cause statement. Additionally. Used a baseball bat to divert the dogs’ attention, allowing the victim to escape to safety.
This led to multiple injuries sustained by the neighbor who intervened as well.
“I was walking out the door on my way to work and saw all of the cop cars lined up down the street,” said the anonymous neighbor
The absence of a formal police department in Huntsville has led to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department being called upon to uphold the law in the city. The sheriff’s office has indicated that their authority is limited to enforcing state laws and statutes within the region.
“We are still limited to the state laws because we are a Sheriff’s Office. The city can actually still enforce their ordinances,” said Randolph County Chief Deputy Officer Joe Harrison.
Nonetheless, a state law requires that there be two recorded instances of dog biting before any measures can be implemented.
The statement regarding the probable cause in this case mentions an event from December 13th; however, the sheriff’s office indicates that there is no record of that incident available.
“Sheriff Boggs and I and the current administration we took over January 1 so it wasn’t something that we were aware of as being a problem,” said Harrison
The city reports that it has not had any official complaints regarding the dogs prior to this event, noting that such complaints need to be submitted via a form at city hall or through the sheriff’s department. Officials stated that their authority extends only to keeping aggressive animals away from public spaces and that they cannot regulate the actions of individuals within their private residences.
“We also have an ordinance that tells if they have a vicious dog and they wish to keep it if it’s outside, they need to provide a safe pen where the dog cannot dig out or jump. Please come up and fill out paperwork, so that we can address that to those people. It’s hard to tell people what they can do in their own house. We do stress, too, in these cases if we know about it, that they make sure the dog can’t get out. You know that’s that’s about all we can do.”
The city of Huntsville is taking proactive steps to address these challenges moving forward.
During the city council meeting on Thursday, the topic of appointing a co-enforcer for animal patrol was brought up for discussion.
It has been noted that any further incidents of aggression involving dogs or other animals must be officially recorded at city hall to ensure the complaint is documented or reported to the Sheriff’s Office.