126302392_web1_Jamison_arraignment

Trial scheduled for suspect charged in Hanover Township fatal shooting

126306026_web1_vough.jpeg

Volunteers sought for elderly vaccine rides

SWOYERSVILLE &mdash; A proposed ordinance change regarding dogs &ldquo;running at large&rdquo; in Swoyersville has been met with online criticism.
				According to a Facebook post made on the official Swoyersville Borough page on Monday morning, the borough council introduced a series of changes to ordinances at their January meeting, upon which council will vote on Feb. 1.
				Those proposed changes include changes to the landlord ordinance, the dumpster ordinance and the dog ordinance.
				It&rsquo;s the latter of these that have been met with criticism online.
				The proposed updates to the ordinance largely center around dogs that are &ldquo;running at large,&rdquo; referring to any public land or private property that belongs to a person other than the dog&rsquo;s owner while the dog is not accompanied by its owner.
				If such a dog were to be found, it would be seized by the borough and stored in a &ldquo;licensed kennel.&rdquo;
				Owners of a licensed dog, the proposed ordinance said, would be notified through certified mail that their dog was in the kennel. After five days, the dog would be &ldquo;disposed of.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Five days after the return receipt has been received and the dog or dogs may be sold or destroyed,&rdquo; the proposed ordinance says, saying this is in accordance with Pennsylvania Dog Law.
				Unlicensed dogs, meanwhile, will only be held in a kennel for two days, and, &ldquo;if not claimed, may be destroyed.&rdquo;
				The first time a dog is seized, the owner would be fined $100, then $200 on the second time, followed by anywhere between $300 and $1,000 and possibly prison time of up to a month on the third time.
				Additionally, the proposed ordinance would allow &ldquo;any police officer, dog warden or code enforcement officer&rdquo; to determine that a dog constitutes a public threat, and would give that individual the right to kill the dog.
				Attempts to reach the borough for comment regarding the ordinance were responded to by Gene Breznay, borough manager, who told a reporter to contact borough solicitor Joseph Yeager. He did not immediately respond to a phone call on Wednesday afternoon.
				The Facebook post linking to the proposed ordinance was met with anger from Swoyersville residents, with more than 100 comments being left, largely criticizing it.
				One Facebook user, named Kelley Ceppa Conner, wrote her criticism of the ordinance, saying, &ldquo;It sends the message that our pets can be scooped up and euthanized, or scarier yet shot in the streets.
				&ldquo;Unfortunately, sometimes our furbabies get out of our yards and it is no doubt very scary for us,&rdquo; her comment continues. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need to be scared even more at the idea that our babies won&rsquo;t ever come home because of Ordinances like this. Although, I do hope that our law enforcement officers and officials would take the time to do a check with the neighborhood or for tags/chips before taking the drastic measures described here. To be quite frank, I&rsquo;m surprised this proposed Ordinance made it this far past Council.&rdquo;
				Facebook user Tracy Smith also voiced criticism.
				&ldquo;Disgusting. All responsible for writing the dog ordinance should be locked in a kennel,&rdquo; that post. &ldquo;Thanks for proving what I thought all along, &lsquo;Animals are better than people.&rsquo; No way can this be signed and passed.&rdquo;

Proposed Swoyersville dog ordinance leads to online controversy