CUMBERLAND — A county official has ordered two dogs running at large multiple times near mile marker 3 on the Great Allegheny Passage to become property of the local animal shelter.
Assistant Allegany County Attorney Ramon Rozas, who last month presided over a hearing on the matter, issued the decision.
Under county code, any dog repeatedly found at large, or any animal having been the subject to two or more violations in a 24-month period, may be forfeited.
“On many occasions, as shown by witness testimony and photographic evidence, the dogs have been off of the owners’ property, or property where they have permission to be, and have been on the GAP, public roads, and on railroad tracks,” Rozas said via the order. “The dogs have threatened users of the GAP, and on one occasion a biker had to use chemical irritants to prevent an attack.”
The dogs’ owners, Danny Porter and Nickole Stemple of Kansas Avenue in Cumberland, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
“The owners have often failed to even be aware that the dogs have left their property, or are running at large,” Rozas said, adding that remedial efforts the couple eventually took, which included use of electric shock collars to keep the animals from leaving their property, “are classic examples of shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted,” and do not diminish the shelter’s case.
The dog owners have 30 days to appeal the order, said Allegany County Attorney T. Lee Beeman.
Upon expiration of that period, the owners “will be obligated to turn in the animals,” Beeman said.
If the owners do not voluntarily relinquish the animals to Allegany County Animal Control officials, the agency will pursue a legal path to seize the dogs, he said.
“The county intends to see this matter through resolution,” Beeman said.
At last month’s hearing, Beeman entered five photos of the larger dog on the trail as exhibits, listed dates of citations issued to the owners and called witnesses to discuss their encounters with the animals.
Allegany County Animal Control Officer Jim Lee testified he was called several times to respond to complaints of the dogs on the trail and had talked to the animals’ owners.
Regular GAP users included Paul Ackerman, who said he’d had to protect himself when the dogs barked and showed their teeth.
Christopher Allison talked of “multiple occasions” he encountered the two dogs on the trail, including one instance when he had to use his bicycle to shield his body from the dogs.
Another time, “I emptied an entire canister of pepper spray and mace,” Allison said, adding that action didn’t seem to impact the dogs, which ran off when a woman called them.
Stemple said she and Porter had recently installed a section of fence to block the dogs from leaving their property.
“I’ve taken all the steps I can,” she said.
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