After series of dog attacks, Brooklyn Park increases citations and looks to regulate unlicensed breeding

Chuck Allen and Tasha Karrick lit the candles on a two-tiered Mickey Mouse cake as family members gathered to sing for their son Covil on what would have been his fourth birthday.

“We’re trying to remember him the best we can,” Karrick said after the birthday party this month. “But it wasn’t the same without Covil. It’s never the same without Covil.”

The Coon Rapids couple in July lost their younger son, a 3-year-old toddler with bouncy blond curls and blue eyes, after he was mauled by two dogs in Brooklyn Park.

The attack was among a string of dangerous incidents that has city officials considering ways to crack down on animal ordinance violations and more frequently cite owners.

Officials also want to amend city laws, including to require microchipping and regulate backyard breeding — cases where residents are selling puppies out of their home without a license and often without training the animals.

Days after Covil’s death, Brooklyn Park police said a loose dog attacked a 7-year-old. The next month, two dogs escaped a yard and attacked a neighbor. In September, a woman was severely injured and hospitalized after she was mauled by her two dogs at a Brooklyn Park apartment, where the owners were selling puppies.

“Anecdotally, these extreme cases haven’t been common,” police inspector Toni Weinbeck, said. “There have been previous attacks, but it was always kind of one-off instances. To have these back-to-back that quickly was concerning to us.”

The debate comes as communities across the Twin Cities metro since the pandemic have reported an increase in stray dogs and rescue facilities overcrowded with animals. In Maple Grove, an animal holding facility that serves eight area cities closed four times last year because it was over capacity.

Brooklyn Park officials said dealing with the uptick requires balancing the increased public safety demands while ensuring animals aren’t unnecessarily impounded or labeled as dangerous.

“We don’t know all of the answers yet,” Mayor Hollies Winston said. “Many solutions will interact with state laws. And we want to honor that very special relationship people have with their pets, while also keeping people safe.”

Weinbeck said the Police Department expects to present proposed ordinance changes to the City Council in January.

“We want change. And little steps can make big waves,” Karrick said. “We want Covil’s name to live on so this doesn’t continue to happen to other people.”

In July, Karrick took her children to a Brooklyn Park home where they had planned to buy a puppy.

She said her family knew the owners and had visited the dogs before without incident. The owners, Karrick said, had planned to eventually breed their American bullies but were surprised with a litter of puppies last summer.

When she and her sons arrived, she said, one of the dog owners was on the phone inside the house but let the two dogs and some of their puppies out to run in the yard.

Covil ran straight to a playground and started playing on the slide. Karrick stayed nearby with her older son as the puppies ran around.

“Within three seconds, Covil was screaming. I turned around, and the dad dog had Covil’s whole head in his mouth,” Karrick said. “It was so fast.”

She rushed over, and as she fought off both adult dogs, they mauled her. She suffered a softball-sized hole in her calf, and bites covered her arms. When police arrived, officers shot the dogs to reach the playground where Covil’s body lay.

“So many things could have been different that day,” said Karrick, who said she has since undergone five surgeries for her injuries. “The owner wasn’t even near us when it happened. The dogs didn’t have collars on or anything, so we couldn’t even grab them without them slipping through our arms.”

Weinbeck said the attack — soon followed by another — raised concerns of a growing number of animal-related issues in the city.

“We’ve seen dogs chasing young children in the community and these things popping up much more this year than what we’ve seen historically,” she said.

The animal holding facility in Maple Grove, called Pets Under Police Security, takes in strays and quarantines animals as required after a bite. Staff works to find owners and return their pets to them, or otherwise transfer animals to be adopted.

In 2023, the facility took in the largest number of animals since it opened three decades ago, according to city documents.

“We’ve seen an increase in strays and abandoned animals in our facility,” said Adam Lindquist, a Maple Grove police commander. “Adoption rates have been down, and foster homes willing to take animals have been down as well.”

In response to the attacks this year, Weinbeck said, the city has issued more citations to pet owners for animal ordinance violations.

In the fall, she said, 20 citations were handed out for loose dogs and nine for animals endangering the public. Police also were following up with owners of dangerous dogs — a label imposed after a dog bites someone or exhibits other aggressive behavior — to ensure the animals are registered and microchipped.

Brooklyn Park already requires animals to have identification tags and proof of vaccination, but Weinbeck said officials will ask the City Council to require they be microchipped, too.

The city is working with Midwest Animal Rescue & Services, or MARS, in Brooklyn Park to offer microchipping at a lower cost. And the impound facility now microchips animals before they are returned to owners.

Since two high-profile attacks involved residents selling litters of puppies, Weinbeck said, police are considering regulations for unlicensed breeding. (The state requires licenses for commercial breeders with 10 or more adult animals.)

City law prohibits residents from keeping more than three animals older than six months in their home. Weinbeck said officials could change the language to include puppies as part of the total three animals allowed.

“If it so happens a dog has puppies, we are looking at giving owners eight weeks to work through the process of removing the animals from the property,” she said. “We don’t want to contribute to another problem of abuse or neglect of animals.”

Fridley attorney Barbara Gislason, who specializes in animal law, said at-home breeding is not inherently problematic. But she said owners must be trained. Gislason said owners might not understand the warning signs of a dog feeling afraid or provoked.

“A lot of people pretend to be responsible breeders, but they’re not,” Gislason said. “And that results in more animals ending up in humane societies because they weren’t properly reared.”

She urged cities to penalize irresponsible pet owners rather than over-labeling dogs as dangerous, which can lead to them being impounded or euthanized.

Weinbeck said Brooklyn Park also is working on partnering with MARS to offer classes for pet owners. MARS spokeswoman Camille Bates said in an email the organization aims to help owners address issues before they escalate or lead to an animal being surrendered.

The mayor said the city could start rolling out changes early next year.