A proposal to add more teeth to a controversial Hurricane ordinance whimpered out Monday night.
Before a group of concerned citizens, council failed to add more bite to a decades-old ordinance which sets a limit of two dogs per home. Heavier fines were proposed.
"Can you look at a dog and decide he is the third dog and take him to the pound to be put down?" asks Roy Vanater, who presented a petition to council to repeal the law. "Its not right if he is being taken care of."
Vanater says the law governing dog limits applies to businesses, not homes.
"The only limit that's listed," says Vanater, "Applies to home-based businesses. Little Mr. Newhouse thinks that's law applying to homes."
Vanater's father owns three dogs and doesn't want to have to get rid of any of them. Other people feel the same way.
But Hurricane City Manager Benjamin Newhouse defends the ordinance. "This is a common-sense issue about not being a nuisance to your neighbor."
Just days before the municipal election, council ducked the issue, but could take it up later-if it is re-elected for another four-year term June 12th.
Realtor Sarah Cooper says the ordinance hurts business as dog owners turn down homes in Hurricane because of the restriction.
"Because of the heat put on because of the citizens, during the campaign process, council didn't want to act," says mayoral candidate Sam Cole. "The citizens spoke and the council listened."
"I personally feel the ordinance should go away," says Councilmember Scott Edwards. "It hasn't been enforced anyway." Edwards is also running for mayor.
Uniformed enforcement of dog laws has long been an issue in Hurricane. PutnamLIVE.com has heard from several citizens that feel leash laws and have been arbitrarily enforced by the town's Dog Warden, Robert "Frank" Stover.
When PutnamLIVE.com broke the story of the firing of former Chief of Police L.D. Foster, Stover showed up on Labor Day, with no uniform or badge, and cited this reporter for having a dog loose in our yard. Another citation was written by Stover a couple of weeks later when a family member had the dog on our front porch-but was issued to this reporter who was in Cabell County at the time.
We took a picture of a dog loose in Stover's front yard. It is posted at the top of this story. Stover testified in court that the dog belonged to a neighbor-but PutnamLIVE.com saw the dog enter Stover's home. More than two years later we photographed what appears to be the same dog in the yard of a home across the street from Stover. This dog was also un-leashed in violation of the Hurricane leash law.
Stover's citation against this publisher were thrown out of court by Putnam Circuit Judge Norbert "Ed" Eagloski.
A call to Stover seeking his comment on the accusations of selective enforcement was met with a "no comment" before Stover hung up.
Hurricane is not the only city in West Virginia that limits dog ownership. South Charleston also has a two-dog limit.
All of this discussion comes at a time when a fundraiser is underway to build a new Animal Relief Center in Putnam County. Those that want the limit repealed say that allowing people to own more dogs in Hurricane mean less animals will end up in the pound.
Councilman David Boyles was absent. He is serving in the Air National Guard in the Middle East.
