A public hearing has been set by the Victoria Town Council to consider two ordinances that would strengthen officers’ authority related to dogs.

The hearing is set for the council’s July meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 7 p.m. at the Victoria Town Office.

The ordinances being considered, according to Victoria Town Manager Rodney Newton, include giving law enforcement and animal control officers more authority to pick up dogs running at large. The ordinances would also give authority to the animal control officer to enforce state laws in regards to dogs and their care.

During the Victoria Town Council’s June 11 meeting, Newton said the council approved a procedure policy for its conditional use permits.

“The conditional use procedure policy just puts into policy format the procedures for handling conditional use permits, nothing changed in the process,” Newton said. The ordinance also cited that it is the dog owners’ responsibility “to have their dogs licensed annually and to maintain reasonable control of their dogs so as not to infringe on the rights of other citizens.”

For non-owners of dogs, the ordinance cited that “persons not owning dogs are asked to exercise patience and judgment in dealing with their fellow citizens in the problems that may arise relating to dogs and to recognize that owners of dogs are exercising their rights to own dogs as a free privilege under the law.”

The ordinance continues that whether an individual owns a dog or not, the person still has the responsibilities of reporting any incidents to the animal control officer or his representative, reporting any unlicensed dog, pack of wild dogs, or any destructive act witnessed that is perpetrated by any dog. When reporting incidents, the ordinance cites that people should provide the animal control officer with as much factual information as possible concerning any destructive actions by dogs as soon as possible.