dominate hearing one
year after boy
Manalapan officials table
dog restraint ordinance
Emotional comments
dominate hearing one
year after boy’s injury
By mark rosman
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — Following a lengthy public hearing on June 11, members of the Township Committee tabled an ordinance that would change the requirements for dog restraint in the community.
A second aspect of the proposed changes deals with dogs that have been deemed to be menacing.
Most of the residents who addressed the committee spoke on the topic of electric fences and stated their belief that the fences do what they are supposed to do: keep dogs on their property.
The issue ended up before the committee following a June 9, 2002, incident in which a 9-year-old township boy went after a ball that had gone onto a neighbor’s property. A border collie on the property was contained by an electric fence, but ended up biting the youngster and causing what was described as severe bodily injuries. Marie Mazzarella of Peach Tree Lane, the mother of the boy, asked the committee to enact a law that would tighten animal control regulations.
The ordinance proposed by the committee would not prohibit the use of electric fences, but neither would it consider the electric fence to be a fence. In order to use an electric fence the owner would be required to keep the dog on a leash on the property or have a person over the ago of 12 present with the dog as it ran free on the owner’s property.
Residents who spoke during the public hearing told municipal officials that enacting either of those requirements would defeat the purpose of having an electric fence which allows a dog to run free but prevents the animal from leaving the property by means of an electric shock if the dog attempts to do so.
All of the speakers expressed their sympathy to the Mazzarella family for the injuries their child sustained and all called the incident an unfortunate accident. However, they noted it was the child, and not the dog, who crossed the property line.
Ray Arello of Thomas Drive, who owns two dogs and has an electric fence, said he could fully appreciate the committee’s intent to protect all citizens, but he noted that injuries occur at the town’s annual Memorial Day soccer tournament and said no one has made a move to do away with that event in the name of public safety.
Kim McCarthy, a representative of the Canine Fence Company, said residents who have installed an electric fence are being responsible citizens. She said the company does not believe the fence should be used as a baby-sitting tool and told municipal officials the firm’s representatives tell their customers they should be at home when the dog is being contained by the electric fence.
In his comments, Ken Messink of Regency Way said, "I don’t understand why this ordinance is being proposed. How are you going to keep people from coming on to my property? Let’s not be reactive to something that happened."
Some residents who addressed the committee suggested that laws passed in other municipalities should be reviewed and incorporated into Manalapan’s code. One suggestion was to require homeowners who have installed an electric fence to install signs around their property so people would know that such a fence is in use and that there may be a dog running loose and unsupervised on the property.
Hal Rifkin of Smithburg Road spoke in favor of the unrestricted use of electric fences. He said he has an electric fence around his 2-acre property and said it "affords the dog a freedom it never had before."
"My heart goes out to the [Mazzarella] family, but it was an accident and you can’t stop accidents," he said, relating the story of how, as a youngster, he had been bitten by a dog.
Committeewoman Beth Ward added her thoughts to the residents’ comments, saying, "What we have to do is teach children in homes that don’t have dogs that a dog will protect its property. This was a horrible accident, but it did happen on the property of the dog."
Committeewoman Rebecca Aaronson said she is the municipal official who got the call about the Mazzarella incident and said she never wanted to get such a call again.
"This [ordinance] is not meant to penalize responsible dog owners," she said. "This happened once and that was once too often."Manalapan health officer David Richardson also addressed the committee during the public hearing. He said there are between 50 and 60 dog bite incidents reported in the community each year, although only a few are deemed serious. There were two such incidents last year, the Mazzarella case and another incident in which a large dog killed a small dog that got away from its owner and ran onto the property where the large dog was.
Richardson said there are some weaknesses inherent with the use of the electric fence and said signs posted around a homeowner’s property where an electric fence is in use would not be a cure-all.
He said he believed officials would have a problem with the portion of the ordinance amendment that dealt with menacing dogs.
The most emotional portion of the public hearing came when Mazzarella addressed the committee and then was followed by her neighbor, John Tuosto, the owner of the border collie that bit the boy.
"What happened to my son was not an accident," Mazzarella said. "The dog went after my son. He suffered physical and emotional damages. It was never my intention to take away the rights of dog owners. I applaud responsible dog owners. The problem I have is with irresponsible dog owners. That is the reason why we need this ordinance."
Mazzarella thanked Committeeman William Scherer for supporting her after the story of what happened to her son initially came to the attention of the public and a host on WKXW-FM (101.5) apparently made light of the situation by suggesting that Manalapan’s children be fitted with electric collars so they could not leave their property.
"Education will prevent some bites, but it will not prevent aggressive dogs from biting. Is playing ball deserving of the death of a child in Manalapan? My child knew what was appropriate because he grew up in a house with dogs. The attack on him was unprovoked," said Mazzarella, whose son is now 10 years old.
She said Municipal Court Judge James Newman deemed the dog, a 6-year-old border collie, to be potentially dangerous (the only other classification is vicious). She said that several weeks ago an enclosure was constructed for the dog on the Tuostos’ property.
Mazzarella was followed to the front of the room by Tuosto. He told municipal officials that until the incident with Mazzarella’s son, the animal had been a loving dog to anyone it encountered.
"We had no inclination that this would happen," Tuosto said. "This has been hell for us and it is infuriating that you [Mazzarella] can insinuate that we are irresponsible owners. The most despicable thing about this is that the damage my dog did to her child can’t compare with the damage she is doing to her child."
The ordinance amendment also deals with the restraint of a dog which has previously bitten a person. The amended portion states, "No person who owns, keeps or harbors any dog which shall have bitten any person shall, after being given written notice by the chief of police or by the animal control officer ordering the confinement of such dog, suffer or permit such dog to be out of doors unless confined on a leash and accompanied by a responsible person of at least 18 years of age, or unless confined within a secure enclosure."
The amended section regarding menacing dogs gives the animal control officer, when he or she has reasonable cause to believe that the dog poses a threat, the authorization to require the owner to do one of three things: immediately erect an enclosure to restrain the menacing dog; muzzle and tether the dog with a 3-foot tether approved by the animal control officer; and maintain certain levels of insurance.
The amendment states that no person shall use a menacing dog to threaten or coerce action from another individual.
Scherer and Ward both said that section of the proposal needs more attention.
The committee members decided to table the ordinance. Township Attorney Donald Lomurro said he would take the suggestions made by the residents and the representative of the fence company into consideration in drafting a revised proposal. The new version could be ready for introduction in July and a new public hearing in August, Lomurro said.
Mayor Drew Shapiro said Monday that alternatives to the dog restraint ordinance as it is written are being investigated.