Caddo Parish animal-services board overturns dangerous-dog designation after woman falls

The Caddo Parish Animal Services Board voted Thursday to overturn a director's decision that had labeled a neighborhood dog "dangerous" after an incident on June 3 that left a resident, Patricia Nichols, hospitalized. Assistant Director Kelvin Samuel opened the appeal hearing and read the local statutory definition of a "dangerous dog," then allowed the victim, the dog's owner and witnesses to speak.

Nichols, who appeared by Zoom, described walking down the street on June 3 when a dog approached and "when he ran into me, he knocked me to the grass. I fell on my right side," she said. "I was hitting him with the stick ... and I was screaming for help." Nichols told the board the dog did not bite her, but she said the fall led to a hip fracture and surgery the next day.

The dog's owner, identified at the hearing as Troy Jones, said storm damage had left a gap in his gate and he believed the dog exited through that opening; he said he had wired the gate afterward and denied prior dangerous behavior, noting that the dog "plays with my grandbabies." Jones told the board he was not aware of the incident until officers informed him the dog had been picked up.

Board members pressed witnesses about whether the victim had been running or walking when she was struck and asked whether bystanders removed the dog; the victim said she could not clearly see who removed the animal and recalled only that two men helped her up. The victim's daughter said she called 911 and that paramedics and officers encountered the dog at the homeowner's gate.

After questions and discussion, the board conducted a show-of-hands vote on whether to uphold the director's dangerous-dog designation. The board "overturned the decision of the director," Assistant Director Samuel said, and ruled the dog not dangerous. Samuel told the victim that she has a right to appeal: "Any person aggrieved by any action of the animal services board may appeal said action to the parish commission," and that written notice must be submitted to the commission clerk within three working days.

Staff said the owner may redeem the dog but that, whether or not the victim appeals, the owner must pass a fence inspection conducted by Caddo Parish Animal Services before the dog can be released. Ashlyn King, the office coordinator, was identified as the staff contact to provide appeal and clerk contact information.

The board concluded the hearing after giving instructions on the appeal process and inspection requirement.