Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993                   TAG: 9307240135
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Long

TIME TO LOOSEN THE LEASH?

A public hearing Monday night on a proposal to loosen Montgomery County's leash law could turn into a real dogfight.

The county's existing animal-control law prohibits dogs from running loose at any time.

But the Board of Supervisors wants to know whether the law should be changed to allow dogs to run free if they're taking part in a formal obedience training classes, sanctioned field trials or legal hunts accompanied by their owners.

The supervisors also are considering a change that would allow dogs used in agricultural work, such as herding or guarding livestock, to run free.

No one wants stray or wild dogs running around the county, but opinion appears divided on whether the county's working dogs should get a break.

Wendell Bond, a coon hunter from Pilot Road, said hunters only recently found out that they've been violating county law by letting their dogs hunt.

"There's no way you can hunt a dog if you can't turn them loose," Bond said.

In April, the Blue Ridge Coon Hunters and Sportsmen's Club was host for a world-qualifying event in Christiansburg that put 106 dogs into the woods, Bond said.

"At the time, we didn't know we were violating the law."

The leash law is a good thing and he can understand why people don't want stray dogs running loose, but hunting dogs are under control, Bond said.

Coon hunters don't like their dogs, which can cost from $1,000 to $5,000, running loose, Bond said.

Many hunters now invest in $900 radio-equipped collars that allow them to stay in contact with their dogs at all times, he said.

Bond said he doesn't believe the county's dog law was intended for hunting dogs but to control stray dogs. The coon hunters plan to attend Monday's hearing, he said.

But Mike Houchins of Elliott Creek Road said he opposes changing the county's leash law. Houchins said he has had problems with a neighbor who turns his numerous hunting dogs loose in and out of hunting season.

Houchins said he owns bird dogs, but if he goes to hunt on his land after his neighbor's dogs have been running loose, he is wasting his time because the game has been scared off.

Hunting is not the main concern for county farmers. Those who use dogs to guard their livestock would be on firmer legal ground if the leash law is changed.

"I think some exceptions should be made for guard dogs, especially," said Bill McDonald, a farmer who raises sheep and cattle near Prices Fork Road. Guard dogs are the only protection against the growing coyote problem in the county, he said.

McDonald has used a guard dog with his sheep for the past 10 years, participating in a research program with the New England Farm Center of Amherst, Mass.

The dog generally stays on his farm property and will attack coyotes or other dogs only if they threaten livestock or the dog, itself, he said.

Supervisor Nick Rush of Christiansburg said most of his calls have come from hunters who want the current law changed. Rush said he was waiting until after the public hearing before making up his mind on the issue.

Supervisor Henry Jablonski of Christiansburg said he has had calls from constituents who talked about the problems of loose-running dogs and want the law left as is. He has had a couple of calls from hunters - but not residents of his district - who support a change.

The possible need to change the county dog ordinance was first brought to the supervisors' attention at a May 24 meeting by Chief Animal Control Officer Kelly Walters.

Walters told the board that he gets complaints regularly from hunters because they are not allowed to exercise their dogs. He suggested that the county amend the ordinance to make it similar to those in Northern Virginia counties, where hunting with dogs and horses is a popular sport.

The supervisors on June 16 voted 4-3 to advertise the dog issue for public hearing.

Jablonski, who voted against considering a change, said no one had ever asked him to change the law, but people have complained to him that dogs running loose would threaten nesting birds and encourage excessive breeding, leading to an increase in wild dogs in the county.

But Gerald Cross, a wildlife biologist at Virginia Tech, said he knows of no evidence that would suggest hunting dogs pose a significant threat to wildlife. If coon hunting is going to be allowed in the county, then the dogs are going to have to be free to run, he said.

County Attorney Roy Thorpe has assured the supervisors that the state's trespass laws still would apply to hunting dogs.

State hunting laws also require hunters to have the permission of landowners before hunting on their property.

However, if a hunter goes onto another's property simply to retrieve his dogs, state law allows it regardless of whether the land is posted. But the hunter cannot drive his vehicle or carry weapons onto the posted property.

Any hunter will tell you it's wrong not to allow hunters to run their dogs, Walters said. Hunters familiar with passage of the county's current law in 1975 say it was supposed to contain an exemption for hunting dogs, he said.

"These hunters put a lot of tax money into the county for dog tags," Walters said. The county tag for an un-neutered dog costs $5 and for a neutered dog $3. A person can buy a kennel license for $25 to cover 20 dogs and $50 for 50 dogs.