San Francisco lawmakers push to bring back 'dog court' amid rise in canine bites

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Dog bites are on the rise in San Francisco and local leaders want owners held accountable.

"There were over 900 recorded dog bites last year alone, after 450 the year before that. That's a crazy high number," said San Francisco Supervisor Stephen Sherrill.

Sherrill is making a push to get what's dubbed "dog court" back up and running.

It's been on pause for nearly a year without an administrative hearing officer, a position the supervisor says must be filled.

"This is part of the board's oversight responsibilities. We're responsible for overseeing and making sure things get done. The money is there, the position is there. Like, let's get this built. Let's get this going," said Sherrill.

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The SFPD's Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit is still investigating reports of dogs biting people and other dogs, but without the court the accountability is missing.

Requirements like muzzling, mandatory obedience training and, in some cases, putting a dog down go by the wayside.

"At the end of the day, when dog bites are on the rise and we don't have a hearings officer to deal with that, that is a massive problem. And I don't think it's appropriate," said Sherrill.

ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke with dog owners and asked what they think of the city dragging its feet on filling the position.

"Well, that's hard to understand because there are dogs that are vicious. And if there's no accountability for him, then the owners have no reason to do anything about it. And somebody like me, who's got a little dog, you know, so be a dog treat for some of those big dogs," said Tony Sheakley, adding he's witnessed several incidents involving aggressive dogs.

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"There's all kinds of things and we try to, you know, ask people to control their dogs or put them on a leash. But after a while it becomes like, well, we can't be the dog park police," said Sheakley.

One owner said there is an incident that stands out as particularly disturbing.

"I've seen it bite a person in the leg, bite another person's dog," said Alexi Calvo. "And, then basically the owner of the pit bull would just leave, so I could understand the value of a court because people are just like, you know, the owners are crying. The one guy was bleeding; he went to the hospital, and there's really no accountability."

Supervisor Sherrill brought these concerns to the Board of Supervisors this week, and expects the topic of hiring a hearing officer to be taken up next month.