Town of Webb resident Michelle Soltes told the Town Board Tuesday that she’s had too many run-ins with aggressive dogs in the past several months—one of which resulted in bites requiring medical treatment—and she would like the town to act in curtailing what she describes as a potentially dangerous problem.

The bites resulted from incidents with a neighbor’s pitbull that was not adequately controlled, she said.

A local court proceeding ensued with Justice Graham dictating restraint measures to the dog’s owner, according to Soltes.

“The dog has to be muzzled if he’s out, he has to be in a pen, he has to get a fence, he has to be on a leash with someone over 21, he has to have an insurance policy,” Soltes said.

Soltes said a more recent incident involving a neighbor dog has her consulting a lawyer.

But beyond those concerns, Soltes said she has experienced unpleasant and sometimes scary encounters on Old Forge streets.She said she tends to take walks with her leashed dog, which she admits makes her more of a target for the aggressions of certain other dogs that tend to roam free.

She said one encounter had her backed into a store entrance, behind its glass doors, to separate herself from an aggressor that was not with its owner.

“That dog [was] on the outside snarling, growling, snapping, drooling,” she said.

Other pedestrians have had run-ins as well, according to Soltes.

She said one woman used a long stick to keep a growling dog at bay.

Another person raised a wrench against a confrontational canine.

The town’s current dog control ordinance is simply not sufficient to give protection to residents, according to Soltes.

She would like to see a leash law enacted.

Councilwoman Mary Brophy-Moore said a leash law had been proposed a couple decades ago, but it failed to gain popular support among residents.

Still, Brophy-Moore, Supervisor Ted Riehle, and others on board believe that the dog control ordinance, if properly applied, should remedy most of the situations described by Soltes.

Riehle said that he would like to start by meeting with Town of Webb Police Chief John Russell.

“We had a similar incident where a resident had a problem with barking dogs,” Riehle said.

“The neighbor’s dogs were continually barking. The cops were called—nothing was done. We dug out the ordinance and the applicant signed a deposition about what was going on. Then [Chief Russell] was able to do something.”

Town Attorney Richard Frye agreed.

He said the existing ordinance makes it unlawful for a dog to chase or otherwise harass or intimidate any person, or to put such people in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or injury.

A victim in such cases is able to file a complaint.

Police are then able to charge the dog’s owner with failing to control their dog under the ordinance.

If found guilty, a fine of up to $250 could be levied against the dog’s owner.

The town’s ordinance states that complainants should specify the nature of the violation, the date it occurred, a description of the dog, and the name and residence, if known, of the dog’s owner.