Lansing - The city council is expected to vote on a proposed addition to its nuisance ordinance Monday.

If the ordinance passes, dog owners may find it bigger than just a nuisance.

Critics say the addition, which would make unleashed dogs a public nuisance, could punish responsible dog owners with fines of up to $500 and up to 90 days in jail.

But the city would issue a warning before the fines are given.

Lansing resident Pete Bosheff said the proposed ordinance is too restrictive.

“I’m a former breeder and have been a vet technician for a long time,” he said.

“My dog, I can walk through the mall with him without a leash.”

Bosheff said his neighbor has a pit bull with a history of attacking other dogs, but he doesn’t see how the new ordinance would solve that problem.

An ordinance needs to be passed but the change wouldn’t give the city any power to do anything besides ticket, said Al Stinson, a retired MSU veterinary professor and former president of the Ingham County Kennel Club Inc.

“It’s puzzling to me,” he said. “How does the citizen know who to contact with a problem like this? Do they go to the county or city first? Who enforces a nuisance ordinance?”

Council Vice President Carol Wood said citizens can call either Ingham County Animal Control or the Lansing Police Department for assistance with rouge dogs.

After a loose dog has been taken away, Wood said if a resident knows who the owner is, he or she should file a complaint with the city attorney’s office.

Stinson, who works on legislative affairs for several dog owner organizations, said identifying an animal is a problem.

“(Neighbors) think it’s yours, but the person accused may not really be the owner,” he said.

But Wood said the process of dealing with problem dogs would not really change.

The council has been working on the issue since October by holding meetings with various enforcement agencies and decided to add to the nuisance ordinance rather than write a new law to deal with the problem, she said.

“If we wrote a law,” she said. “We’d have to do our own animal control.”

Ingham County Animal Control and the Lansing Police Department currently deal with animal problems and Wood said the ordinance would not change that.

“It’s not any different than the fireworks ordinance,” she said.

Resident Belinda Fitzpatrick has seen a copy of the ordinance and said it will punish responsible dog owners.

“At the 119th Armory Park a lot of people there walk their dogs and leave them off the leash when they’re there. A lot (of owners) are not aware of the pending ordinance,” she said.

But Wood said those owners are already violating state ordinances.

Bosheff said the ordinance is not addressing the issue of problem dogs. If he was faced with a fine he wouldn’t pay it.

“My dog is not a nuisance.” he said.

“Personally I’ll take the 90 days in jail with the dog as a protest. We’re guilty together.”