HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Rick Van Slooten is still waiting for the woman who owns a dog that attacked his dog last Thursday to come forward.
He stated on WHTC’s Facebook page last night he’s starting to think of her actions in two separate ways, both criminal — first, for not having control of her large dog, which attacked Van Slooten’s 9-year-old huskey Shackleton, causing 2-thousand-dollars in vet bills — and second, for leaving the scene without sharing her identification or contact information.
He said she promised to return to the scene after securing his dog — which he described as a boxer-type breed weighing betwee 80 and 100 pounds — “they went across the street and jumpedinto what looked liek a white conversation van or someting similar. It had a funny top on it,” he said. But the couple “took off,” he added. That’s when he dialed 911 and asked police to look for the vehicle.
The City of Holland’s ordinance requires a minimum 10-day quarantine of a dog that’s bitten a person or pet … — “immediately following the time of the biting incident.” Should police take the dog to the humane society, the owner would be responsible for the costs, according to the city’s ordinance.
The city ordinance requires owners of dogs that have bitten a person or another dog to report the incident to police.
The City of Holland ordinances don’t list penalties for dog bites. That’s because state law covers biting dogs.
With some exceptions for extreme circumstances, state law defines a dangerous animal as “a dog or other animal that bites or attacks a person, or a dog that bites or attacks and causes serious injury or death to another dog while the other dog is on the property or under the control of its owner.”
Michigan’s Dangerous Animals Act 426 of 1988 reflects severe penalties if the dog bites a person, all felony charges, including up to four years inprison and fines up to $2,000 for injury less than death and
It’s a misdemeanor, according to the state law, for a biting injury that is deemed not serious; penalites include up to 90 days behind bars for the animal’s owner and fines bewteen $250 and $500. In that case, a judge could also order up to 240 hours of community service. The same misdemeanor penalties could be applied for the owner of an animal deemed dangerous is it is allowed to run loose.
