LAME DEER — The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council is looking to strengthen its ordinance on dangerous dogs after a brutal attack on a tribal member prompted renewed discussions about community safety.
Teela Atwood was recently attacked by several dogs, an incident that has pushed the council to revisit existing policies regarding the elimination of dangerous dogs by law enforcement.
Watch Tribal president talk about the ordinance:
"I made the decision that we catch these dogs and do something right away because there has been attacks in the past. And I made that decision along with the council," said Tribal President Gene Small.
The attack has sparked conversations about potentially revising the current ordinance, with council members considering new approaches to address what community members describe as a years-long problem.
"I think we should go back to teamwork as far as the work session goes and start working on new origins," Small said.
One proposed solution involves holding dog owners accountable, though Small acknowledges the challenges this presents.
"How do you prove somebody owns a dog in a street lane?" Small said. "Because there's no implant, chip, collar, tag."
Mary Old Bear, Atwood's aunt, believes the community needs to work together to address the ongoing issue.
"It's just everybody taking your part and being responsible for your part and working and just staying on top of it, doing something," Old Bear said.
Old Bear supports making owners responsible for their animal's behavior.
"The responsibility should be on the owner because you're the one who isn't taking care of that dog and you're not feeding it. That's the main reason they're running around town," Old Bear said.
She noted that discussions about the dog problem typically only surface after serious incidents occur.
"The only time it kind of comes to the surface is when something like this happens and then everybody's on it and then it just goes away. And then no one ever really does what they should about it," Old Bear said.
Small is working to find solutions that balance tribal culture and values with community safety needs.
"We've told our own laws. We've got our own laws. And I guess, how do we find that balance of the culture and the feral?" Small said. "We still keep the culture aspect in mind, but you also gotta keep, the big thing for me is the people, the safety."
