The May 20 Westby City Council meeting was anything but typical when residents living on the south end of the city, near South Street, packed into the room to bark their complaints over a resident with four dogs that has become a neighborhood nuisance and raised concerns over public safety.

Kelli Souza, who resides at 105 South Street, told city council members she moved to the area from Nevada two months ago. She attended the meeting to apply for a kennel license to house her four boxers, a larger female and three pups. Just prior to the meeting Souza had purchased supplies to construct a kennel on the back side of her property, adjacent to Vosseteig’s Funeral Home.

Jay and Kathy Vosseteig both spoke at the meeting relaying their concerns over the four dogs. According to the Vosseteigs the dogs have become a nuisance barking for hours on end, a problem for people walking through the neighborhood and a concern for people who utilize the funeral home and fear the animals.

“Whether real or perceived fear doesn’t matter, the dogs have become an issue of concern for everyone here and it’s just too many dogs within a close proximity to our business,” Jay Vosseteig said.

According to city ordinance a resident residing within the city limits may not own or care for more than three dogs without a kennel license. The city council may not approve a kennel license without a published public hearing at the dog owner’s expense.

Mayor Dan Jefson told Souza that in his opinion by the turnout of people attending the regular board meeting and the number of complaints already registered on the animals that her chances of having a kennel license approved were slim.

City police chief Mitch Hundt informed the board that his department has already received six complaints on the dogs and he had issued a ticket to Souza. The last complaint was registered over Syttende Mai weekend. Hundt was definitely not in favor of issuing a license to Souza and registered his own belief that no one in town should own more than two dogs and the city ordinance was too generous allowing three.

According to Hundt, in order to issue Souza the barking dog violation an officer had to distract the dogs, while a second officer delivered the citation.

“Speaking on behalf of public safety, Souza is already in violation of the city ordinance and after six complaints and dealing with the problem first hand I understand everyone’s fear,” Hundt said.

Souza admitted to the council that the dogs were left alone at the residence and found an exit from the house into the yard, a problem which according to Souza has since been corrected. She was also not personally staying in the house with the animals while repairs were being completed to the structure, creating an even greater problem for neighbors and police who were unable to contact her directly regarding continuous barking.

Souza stated she had no intentions of upsetting the neighbors, but that she loves the dogs and continually referred to them as her babies. She agreed to relinquish one of the animals to another residence in order to bring her in compliance with the city dog ordinance. The remaining animals she hopes to keep either inside the house or in her new outside kennel.

“I plan on only having the dogs outside the kennel when I’m in the yard with them,” Souza said.

Adrian Hendrickson agreed that the barking problem has improved lately, but he stills sees the open yard, equipped with a silent shock fence as not enough of a deterrent for the dogs who charge the road when anyone is in the vicinity. He believes people will continue to be afraid to walk, run or ride bicycles on the public streets in front of the Souza household and the neighborhood.

Cathy Vosseteig talked directly to Souza regarding an instance where the dogs escaped the silent fence in the yard and chased her daughter on her way to school.

“A fence is all well and good, but it’s not acceptable in this case. My daughter can’t sleep at night when the dogs bark and she’s scared to walk to school,” she said.

Marlene Olson, who resides on Nelson Street, agreed stating that she has four little kids who love to ride bike and that they are scared to death to ride anywhere near the Souza yard.

Souza was informed she would need to apply for a building permit to construct a kennel or chain link fence and that if she chooses to move forward with the kennel issue she would need to request a public hearing.

“You can request a public hearing, but it’s my gut feeling you won’t get the permit. I could be wrong, but by the amount of concern already registered and the number of complaints, you might be wasting your money. I don’t know how you’re going to solve this issue, but if the complaints continue you will be contacted by the city attorney,” Jefson said adding that if the barking persists more citations will be issued and that Souza must lower the number of dogs to three from her current four.

“One will be gone tomorrow,“ Souza said on Tuesday, May 20.

Myrna Moe asked the board to be fair and make sure not to reject the kennel license unless it is justified.

“I love dogs and as long as they are contained, I don’t think Souza should be denied,” Moe said.

It was clearly stated that no one was bias against Souza or dog owners, but that concerns were based more on public safety and nuisance issues.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 3 at city hall.