Parowan » During a three-day period earlier this month in Parowan, two dogs were shot and killed by the same person claiming he had a right to shoot the animals because they were loose and harassing his sheep.
On Thursday night, the owners of the dead dogs appeared before the City Council complaining that the existing law that allows livestock owners within city limits to kill dogs for threatening their animals presents a danger to the public.
Kerry Jenson told council members that on Jan. 21, he dropped off his dog at the home of his former wife's mother while he and his former wife, Natalie, went to a meeting.
A neighbor came over and took the dog, Charlie, a blue healer, to her house where it started playing.
Jenson said the neighbor told him she looked away for about two seconds when she heard a shot and saw Charlie drop dead with a bullet in his side.
Jenson said the neighbor saw a homeowner about 40 feet away lower a rifle and go back into his house.
When Jenson heard his dog was dead, he confronted Garn Page, the man who shot the dog. Page showed Jenson four paw prints in the snow he claimed were made by the dog when it was harassing his four sheep.
"He could have shot a kid," said Jenson. "Shooting a rifle in town? How safe is that? It's purely reckless."
Parowan Police Chief Preston Griffith investigated the incident and concluded that Page was within his rights to shoot the dog to protect his sheep.
The Iron County Sheriff's Office is also investigating the incident. No charges have been filed.
Lance Stubbs said Page also shot his dog on Jan. 17 after his dog got loose, wandered away and ended up playing with some children at the same neighbor's house where Jenson's dog was shot.
Stubbs said when his chocolate Labrador, Prissy, went onto Page's property, the neighbor went to talk him out of shooting the dog, but he would not listen.
The neighbor hurried back to her house, told the children to get on the floor and they heard three shots and a dog yelp.
Stubbs said when he confronted Page, he told him he was within his rights to shoot any dog on his street that was unleashed because it posed a threat to his sheep.
Stubbs also expressed concerns that someone could be killed or injured by Page's actions.
Mindy Evans, like others who spoke to the overflow crowd attending Thursday's meeting, supports ranchers and rights to protect their livestock, but thinks shooting within the city limits is unsafe.
"The law needs to be changed," she said.
Page did not attend Thursday's meeting, but his wife, Rose, read a statement from him in which he said if the dog owners had obeyed the law that requires a leash, "their dogs would be well today."
"My husband is not a monster," said Rose Page.
She said dogs getting into the pen where they raise lambs is a constant problem and said they were the victims in the issue.
"They [dog owners] broke the law first," she said.
City Attorney Justin Wayment said he is revising the ordinance covering the protection of livestock and that it would require that people call police instead of shooting the animal.
A citation would then be issued to the offending dog's owners and the matter can be decided in court.
The City Council will consider adopting the revised ordinance once Wayment has finished it in a month or two.
