The Maplewood Department of Health asked the Township Committee at their meeting Tuesday night to consider an ordinance giving the department authority to order muzzles on aggressive dogs.
Health Officer Robert Roe (whose department is in charge of animal control in Maplewood) explained that Maplewood has situations from time to time where dogs are aggressive towards others dogs or people. The state has laws on the books under Title IV against “potentially dangerous” and “vicious” dogs, but the process of classifying a dog as such is not unlike a criminal trial, according to Roe, in which the burden of proof is on the township.
“We have gone to court in the past to [classify dogs as ‘dangerous’],” Roe said to Patch. “But there are other situations where maybe the dog isn’t as bad as state regulations but is a danger. The way to prevent that danger would be to have the dog wear a muzzle.”
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