Title: Stray Dogs Being Mustered Out
There’s a new sign of the times for feral dogs on the Hopi Reservation: No littering.
A female dog can have 16 puppies a year. You don’t have to be a math wiz to know that can add up fast. Too many of those huckleberry hounds seem to be roaming around Hopi territory.
“The dogs are not restrained,” said Madeline Sahneyah, a public health compliance office for the Hopi Department of Health and Human Services.
And there are no fences to restrain the canoodling canines because Hopi law doesn’t allow fences in the villages, Sahneyah added.
In 1977 there were an estimated 4,000 feral dogs on the Hopi Reservation. The puppy population has certainly grown since then.
But the Hopi Tribal Council is hoping to collar the amorous culprits.
The council has passed an ordinance to fight the problem of roaming dogs. The ordinance passed by a 10-0 vote with one abstention.
Now Hopi Tribal Rangers are empowered to enforce the ordinance.
It is aimed at owners of domesticated animals.
“Most are not cared for as pets,” Sahneyah said.
Of course the uptick in feral dogs also leads to an increase in ticks.
“We’ve been having problems with ticks for five or six years,” she said.
Even though some dogs are boxers, most prefer to bite. There have been an increase in dog bites on Hopi recently, too.
Dog bite violations go to civil court.
johnchristianhopkins 