BROADALBIN - Resident Susan Casler aired concerns about the town's enforcement of animal control laws at a Town Board meeting Tuesday.
Casler said she and her dog were attacked by loose dogs on two separate occasions in June. One involved a dog that jumped out of a moving vehicle, Casler said.
When a dog that has not been vaccinated for rabies has contact with a stranger, state law requires the dog be confined and observed for 10 days after the attack to make sure the animal doesn't exhibit signs of rabies, Casler said. In both attacks, neither dog was confined, she said.
"I understand it's not easy to deal with irate dog owners," Casler told the board. "The gap in this law must be closed."
Casler said the town's dog warden has repeatedly tried to contact the owners of the two dogs but has been ignored.
"They won't answer their door, and they won't answer the phone," Casler said.
Casler, a registered nurse, said she knows the seriousness of rabies. Pet owners, however, sometimes refuse to comply with the law, she said.
"I shudder at the thought of someone's small child being on the other end of what my dog and I have gone through," Casler wrote in a recent letter to the editor of The Leader-Herald.
Casler said Tuesday the owner of the dog who jumped from a car and attacked her refused to divulge her name.
"I was really angry. I said, 'This is the second time this has happened,'" Casler said. "And she said to me, 'Not by my dog, my dog only attacked you once.' That was the most ridiculous thing I've heard. That's like saying, 'I only killed him once.'"
Supervisor Lee Hollenbeck and Board Member Joseph DiGiacomo said they are sympathetic to Casler's situation, but they didn't know what could be done. Casler said she wants the town to follow state laws and make sure dogs that attack are checked for rabies.
Assessment remarks
In other business, Town Assessor Joseph McDonald presented the board and public with documents charting the growth in sales of homes in the town.
McDonald said assessment values have changed with ups and downs in actual sales prices, for the most part. He said lakeside and lake-influenced properties generally have been assessed at a higher level than rural properties, and rural properties have been assessed higher than village properties.
McDonald also said sales in the town have dropped, but that mirrors a trend occurring throughout the country.
Town beach concerns
The Town Board also discussed problems at the town beach. Picnic tables have been stolen and moved around, and people are breaking into the parking area and parking when the beach is closed, officials said.
There also is a problem with garbage being left on the beach and youths partying on the beach after hours, officials said.
There is no penalty for entering the parking lot after hours, but board members said they should consider revising the law to include one.
Kayleigh Karutis covers rural Fulton County news. She can be reached by e-mail at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.