Why Hazleton Needs Animal Control

  The City of Hazleton Pennsylvania is in dire need of Animal Control. While Hazleton does have an animal shelter, Hazleton has a problem with stray cats and dogs living under people's porches and or sleeping and pissing on their front porch at night. The animal shelter does try to do a good job and can't take all of the strays in due to not enough room or lack of supplies/ volunteers and people who want to adopt a pet.  However Hazleton needs an animal control force extremely bad. Why? Well for starters people sometimes own a dog(s) without having a front gate in their yard so if the dog breaks off the chain, the dog can escape and cause harm to somebody. I can relate to this. When I was 9 years old I was coming home from Sunday dinner at my brother's house. I just got out of the car when the neighbor's dog from down the street broke off the chain and bit me. This caused a me to have cynophobia or the fear of dogs. I have since overcame that fear. The neighbor did not have a front gate in their yard so the dog couldn't escape. This all could have been prevented if they had a gate. The animal control department could enforce laws requiring dog owners to have a proper enclosure ex giving the homeowner a fine.
  Another thing an animal control force could do is fine dog owners whose dogs escape on a daily basis. If Hazleton had an animal control force, the students who walk home from the schools would be protected from dogs that might escape causing harm. Here is a made up example. Let's say a student is walking home from school and a dog nuzzles it's way out so the gate open's because it is not latched properly. The student has a fear of dogs and tries to dodge the dog. While doing so he tries to stop a car in the street for help and gets hit and gets paralyzed and is now wheelchair bound. If an animal control force were established this may have been prevented. If the dog got out of the yard frequently, the animal control department could implement a three strikes rule system on dog owners. Strike one is a verbal warning. Strike two is a fine. Strike three is placing the dog in animal control custody or having the enclosure locked with padlocks so the dog cannot escape.
  Hazleton needs an animal control department. If the City of Hazleton cannot do anything about it, maybe Luzerne County can create a county animal control department. With the new Home Rule government, this can be possible. Animal control would relieve homeowners of unwanted pests around their homes and make the streets safe for walkers. Animal control would also relieve the burden the police sometimes have with animal pests, such as taking out a rabid dog or arresting a cat hoarder.