Sheriff: County needs to enact vicious animal codes in wake of boy's death
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
By Roger Sims
MOUND CITY – The tragic death of a 13-year-old Pleasanton Junior High School student just days before Christmas sent shock waves through not just Linn County but through the whole region. The continuing story of the arrest of a 47-year-old Holiday Lakes resident for moving the boy’s body to the Missouri side of the state line was fodder for metro area television and print media for days.
When the Wyandotte County Coroner released the autopsy on Jan. 5, it confirmed the rumors that had been circulating in the area since the days the boy’s body was found. The horrific ruling: He was killed by multiple dog bite injuries.
One report said that several dogs were found at the home of Damon Leonard after he turned himself in to the Bates County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Office for moving the body. Speculation is that the dogs’ owner was likely horrified when he realized what the animals had done.
And while one of the charges filed against Leonard in Linn County is “having a vicious dog at large,” Linn County Sheriff James Akes in an interview on Friday, said the tragic incident should serve as a wake-up call for the Linn County Commission to put a vicious animal code in place.
“The county can make a resolution on whatever they want to as far as dog bites or anything else like that, but they just haven’t,” Akes said. “It’s just been overlooked.”
Most cities in Linn County have their own animal control ordinances that allow city officials to collect fines for dogs running at-large, impounding dogs who are habitually loose, and even euthanizing dogs that are vicious and prone to attack.
However, Akes said that for the most part his office has to rely on Kansas statutes for animal control.
At the same time, more people are moving to Linn County, bringing with them their pets that can enjoy the freedom of roaming that comes with a move to the country.
A few years ago, a resident of the unincorporated neighborhood of Trading Post appeared before the Linn County Commission asking that the commission take some action against a pack of dogs that belonged to a neighbor. She said some of the dogs were vicious and she feared for her safety when she stepped outside her door.
The commission’s response was there was little they could do except to ask that a sheriff’s deputy investigate.
Residents of Holiday Lakes, Lake Chapparal, Sugar Valley and Tanglewood Lakes typcially have leash laws, they don’t have rules that protect against neighbors harboring vicious dogs. And while property owners associations can enact rules, the sheriff’s office has only state statutes for guidance.
Residents in unincorporated towns such as Trading Post and Centerville don't even have leash laws to prevent roaming dogs.
In 1995, the Linn County Commission approved Resolution 95-24 aimed at vicious dogs, particularly pit bulls..
The resolution, in part, read:
“Animals: Keeping Prohibited. It shall be uniawful to keep, harbor, own or in any way possess within the limit of the County of Linn, State of Kansas.
“(A) Any warm-blooded, carnivorous or omnivorous, wild or exotic animal (including but not
limited to non-human primates, raccoons, skunks, foxes and wild and exotic cats; but excluding fowl, ferrets and small rodents of varieties used for laboratory purposes).
“(B) Any animal having poisonous bites.
“(C) Any vicious dog which has a tendency or propensity to attack, shall refer to any actual
or threatened attempts to endanger the safety of other animals or human beings.
(D) Any pit bull dog; provided, that pit bull dogs registered with the County on the date of
publication of this resolution may be kept within the County subject to the standards and requirements . . .”
The resolution went on to define which dogs were considered pit bulls and to stipulate that they must be registered, the owner must have $100,000 in liability insurance in the event the dog causes injury or death, a fine of up to $1,000 a day plus the possibility of up to 30 days in jail for failure to comply. Under that resolution, the dangerous animal must be kept indoors unless it was with a handler on a leash no longer than 4 feet long and it was wearing a muzzle.
Akes said that more recent court cases have resulted in decisions that banning a certain breed of dog can only happen when the issue is approved by voters.
Dog control out in more rural parts of the county is often handled by residents.
Cities have ordinances against dogs running at-large and against discharging firearms in city limits, and those who don’t obey those ordinances face fines, he said.
“But out in the county, we fall back on the state, and you have the right to protect your livestock, yourself and your property,” he said, adding that includes domesticated animals.
The right to protect livestock and people doesn’t just apply to dogs. Akes recounted an instance where a bull “that just went absolutely nuts.” No one could get near the animal and bull was put down out in the pasture.
In the case of the boy’s death at Holiday Lakes, no complaints about the neighbor’s vicious dogs were ever reported.
According to state statute, "Permitting a dangerous or vicious animal to be at large, or keeping it without proper restraint, is a Class B nonperson misdemeanor."
The statute goes on to clarify that it applies if the owner knowingly allows an animal with dangerous tendencies to go unrestrained.
“In the state, there is mandatory reporting if someone gets bit by a dog,” Akes said.
“We’ve got to have a quarantine, we’ve got to have the vet papers, we’ve got to make sure we have everything in line, according to the state, if someone does get bit by a dog,” he said. “So there’s standards that we follow with the state if somebody gets bit, but if nobody gets bit, we’re unaware that somebody’s dog is a menace.”
If the dog has been vaccinated for rabies and deputies know who the owner is, the dog can be quarantined at home. If there is no proof of vaccination, or there is no owner present, the dog is seized and impounded for 10 days to make sure they don’t show any signs of infectious diseases, he said.
“Typically we don’t find out about this until somebody goes to the hospital, and the hospital calls us and says, ‘You need to go take a report,’” Akes said. “We come out and take a report and the report goes to the health department and it goes down for state reporting.”
If the county commission does establish a code about dangerous animals, there is a question of who would enforce it. Akes said that would likely fall to the county’s codes officer, because they would be enforcing a county code, not a state law.
The county also does not have a secure kennel in which to impound animals.
La Cygne Police Chief Zachary Mathies confirmed on Wednesday, Jan. 7, that four of the dogs owned by Damon Leonard were brought to the La Cygne pound at the city’s compactor site.
Someone walked by the kennels and the dogs responded very aggressively, according to one report.
Akes said that he would be open to alternative solutions if the county included a vicious animal resolution in its code book. That could include contracting with a company or even a city to do animal control for the county.
He said that the animal control officer for Fort Scott responded to calls outside city limits in Bourbon County. He suggested that was a very workable solution.
Akes estimates that as many as 95% of the dog bites reported happen when two dogs are fighting and an owner tries to break it up. “The remaining 5% is when someone gets nipped.”
While Memorial Day weekend is still almost five months away, Akes said once the summer holidays begin, the county’s population can swell from more the 10,000 to as many as 30,000 people on holiday weekends. Most of the people flock to the lake developments, and many of them bring their pets with them.
“It’s dog chaos at those times,” he said.
“The county is going to have to address this or kick the can down the road,” he said. But he believes the county can’t delay action much longer.
“There’s going to have to be the resolve to address it, and the county has got to do something,” he said.