Metro Council is considering increasing accountability for dog owners and defining what makes a community cat

Last winter, two roaming dogs bit a child and attempted to go after an adult.

This just so happen to be a neighbor of Southeast Councilmember Joy Styles.

“And when I had called animal control, they had said that they couldn’t take the animal because the individual whose pant had been caught — he wasn’t bleeding,” she explains. Since then, she’s gotten calls from residents in different parts of town complaining and suggesting things for her to consider.

The Metro Nashville Council is considering legislation that will increase accountability for dog owners by creating two tiers of what classifies a dog as dangerous. The council is expected to hold a public hearing on the legislation in January.

Level one is a dog that bites or causes a minor injury to a person or domestic animal off property more than twice in two years. In the update, the city could require the dog owners to confine, microchip or attend a behavior class with their animal.

A level two dog ups the attacks to three, and as a result would require a dangerous dog sign, liability insurance or training to manage the dog’s behavior.

Since early this year, Styles and community organizations have been workshopping the existing law to prevent more incidents from happening. Styles says the city’s animal control department currently has limited capacity to enforce an increase in consequences. So she’s also suggesting the council look into funding the department more in the upcoming fiscal year.

The legislation also focuses on other animals, like defining what makes a feral cat. A community cat can be cared for by more than one home, and laws against abandonment wouldn’t apply to the caregivers of the animal.

Update: This story has been updated to include information that the council will hold a public hearing on the legislation in January.