Change may soon be coming to the City of Elgin’s dog ordinance.
Mayor Mike Schmitt and the Elgin City Council will likely amend the ordinance, specifically the city’s desig-nation of prohibited dogs AND dogs running at large.
The decision followed close to 90 minutes of back-and-forth between city officials and Elgin residents, many of which received letters from the city attorney about their pets.
Elgin resident Shaley Dirks raised a number of issues with the current city ordinance. She provided a number of materials for the council to look at some dealing with support/service dogs as well as breeds on the prohibited dog list.
The most passionate testimony may have been from Jessica Stamp, a victim of a dog bite not long ago in Elgin. She said no prosecution occurred from the incident which took place in December 2019 after a report was taken by a deputy from the Antelope County Sheriff’s Department.
The officer who took the report then left the department and the report sat with no follow-up action.
“It was not from a lack of interest from our group,” Mayor Mike Schmitt said. “He (the dog owner) didn’t get a letter.” City Hall is waiting for an explanation on the handling of the matter in question. Turn to this weeks paper to read the story in its entirety.
