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Vicious Dog Ordinance

Rachel Withers
Eyewitness News Reporter

Lookout Mountain, TN (WRCB) -- Lookout Mountain police are praising the park ranger who shot and killed a pit bull near Point Park.

Controversy is swirling around the park ranger's actions.  Police say the dog threatened tourists, while others say the bigger danger is firing a gun in a very public place.

You don't have to wait long, to see dozens of tourists coming in and out of Lookout Mountain's Point Park.  More than 200,000 tourists visit the historic site each year.

"Our streets are busy, and we don't need animals that are out to attack," Lookout Mountain police chief Randy Bowden told Eyewitness News.

That's why Chief Bowden is praising a park ranger's recent decision to shoot and kill a pit bull.  He says the dog charged tourists just ten feet from the Point Park gate, at one point approaching a young girl.

"I sure hope my guys would've done the same thing, as opposed to try to go to the point where someone got hurt," explained Bowden.

"I had a friend who was walking several years ago, and a dog did attack her," Lookout Mountain resident, Gail Jenkins told Eyewitness News.  "I guess, it was the UPS man who driving by, and actually saved her life."

It's stories like those, that prompted Lookout Mountain to adopt one of the toughest dog ordinances in Tennessee.  Owners are required to register certain dog breeds, like pit bulls, as vicious.  In addition, a $500,000 liability insurance policy is required, and the vicious dog must stay pinned up.

"I think it's definitely making a difference," said Jenkins.

Chief Bowden agrees, but admits, the ordinance isn't fool-proof.  The owner of the dog killed at Point Park was following the law, and still, somehow, the dog escaped.

"He had done what he needed to do," said Bowden.  "It was a bad circumstance, when the dog got into the street."

Right now, there are no dogs listed on Lookout Mountain's vicious list.  Chief Bowden says most people choose to get rid of their dog, rather than go through the trouble of registering it.

Several surrounding agencies have contacted Bowden about enforcing a similar ordinance.