Colorado Town vs The Animal Uprising 2012

Prepared with stories of people and other animals attacked by dogs roaming neighborhoods and parks and ceaseless dog barking incidents, a number of members of Paonia Concerned Citizens requested that an animal control task force be created. They presented their ideas at the April 28 Paonia Town Council meeting. The group asked for two to three concerned citizens, the town's public safety committee, and a police officer to be on the task force.

Mayor Neal Schwieterman said due to trustee Scott Morley's work schedule, the mayor would take his place representing the public safety committee. Schwieterman also said he would like to add the town's financial officer to the task force.

Police Chief Scott Leon said the department had already made the decision to hire a part-time animal control officer, based on call load. He added the officer's hours could increase to full-time if needed.

The citizens who attended the meeting made clear they had lived with the problem for 10 to 12 years and felt the dog problem had been ignored by the town and the police. Verna Namy stated that the police department's attitude about the dog problem was that it was not serious. She said the public is not aware of the laws regarding dogs. She suggested that fines are too low and that the fines should increase per incident. She stated the town needs a full-time police chief. Chief Leon is also the public works director. She also said the animal control officer needs to be full-time.

Damn Straight ... its about Damn time that towns start mobilizing NOW against the Animal Uprising 2012. I don't care if your town has maybe, 20 people in it ... you've got to be ready. Although, i'd take it a step further, and go ahead and build a wall to keep all animals out. It might be a good idea for everyone to go ahead and get themselves some of these ...