A new Vicious Dogs Strike Force wouldn’t just help rid the area of dangerous animals, a Douglas County commissioner says.

Arming law-enforcement agencies with the ability to seek and seize dogs that have been trained to fight, Commissioner Charles Jones said, also would shove a foot into the door of a world of gambling, guns and drugs.

Bad people own bad dogs, he said, and they don’t want police sniffing around in their shady dealings.

“This is a good enforcement tool, in terms of getting on the site,” Jones told his fellow commissioners Wednesday night. “If you get a warrant to come on the property and look for dog-training equipment, and if you happen to see a methamphetamine lab right there, then you can arrest them.”

Jones’ pitch for a stronger attack on vicious dogs comes as commissioners prepare to go to battle next week over plans for the 2004 county budget.

The two issues are related because Sheriff Rick Trapp said he would assign a deputy to work on the new strike force, and the assignment would drain resources on a patrol division that hadn’t added a deputy for 20 years.

Under the county’s proposed budget, Trapp would get four more deputies, including one for patrol. But commissioners already are saying that it’s unlikely Trapp will get his full request, given public opposition to a tax increase but mounting requests for extra money from departments and social service agencies.

Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones, left, and Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, watch a group of pit bulls awaiting their evaluations in this photo from earlier this month. Jones is leading an effort to stop the county's dangerous-dog problem through a new ordinance that would allow police to seek and seize vicious dogs.

Creating the strike force would add responsibilities for more than the sheriff. The district attorney would be expected to assign a prosecutor to handle an estimated 10 vicious-dog cases a year. A judge would be assigned to issue warrants.

Police in Lawrence, Baldwin and Eudora also would be asked to participate, by gathering intelligence regarding dog-fighting operations and assistance in breaking them up.

Jones said that, overall, the stepped-up pressure would cost less than $50,000, and pay off even more by convincing problem dogs and their owners to leave the area.

“We’re not going to change these people, and we’re not going to change their dogs,” he said. “But we will send a message: ‘You will be hassled a lot in Douglas County. Go away.'”

Jones’ proposed ordinance created by a task force of representatives from law-enforcement agencies, governments and agencies throughout the county is scheduled for formal commission approval July 9. Jones then would take the concept to surrounding city commissions and councils for their consideration.

Sam Fields, an area bail bondsman, said commissioners were on the right track. Although concerned about the potential for inappropriate warrants, the pit bull owner said he would encourage creation of the new strike force and achievement of its goal: to remove the threat of vicious dogs from the county during the next two years.

“These people need to be stopped, and I know some of them,” Fields said. “This is a nationwide problem, and there needs to be some type of control.”

¢ 6News video: Vicious dogs may be outlawed¢ Plan targets vicious dogs (6-8-03)¢ 6News video: New law could put owners of vicious dogs behind bars¢ Attacks prompt communities to ban ‘aggressive’ dog breeds (3-3-03)¢ Letter: Dog alert (2-18-03)¢ Officials join forces to rethink dog law (2-15-03)¢ Dangerous dog ordinance up for change (1-27-03)¢ Ordinance collars 6 dangerous dogs (11-16-03)