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<br />6 <br />forth a hearing procedure in which the City Manager or designee is the impartial hearing <br />officer. St. Louis Park Mun. Code § 4-88(a), (g). The ordinance also provides for notice and a <br />hearing of a designation of a potentially dangerous dog, and requires owners of potentially <br />dangerous dogs to register and license the dog as potentially dangerous and have a microchip <br />implanted. St. Louis Park Mun. Code § 4-89(b)-(c). The applicable fees are not specified. <br />E. Plymouth <br />The Plymouth ordinance does not adopt the entire state statute by reference like Edina, but it <br />does refer to provisions of the state law repeatedly. The Plymouth ordinance expressly <br />provides for notice and opportunity for a hearing for a “potentially dangerous” designation, <br />which is not provided for in the state law. Plymouth Mun. Code § 915.25, subd. 2. The <br />ordinance does not, however, impose any registration or other restrictions on potentially <br />dangerous dogs. <br />V. Analysis and Recommendations <br />A. Potential Liability <br />In certain extreme circumstances, a City can be held liable for failure to enforce its dangerous <br />dogs ordinance. In Hansen v. City of St. Paul, 214 N.W.2d 346 (Minn. 1974), St. Paul was <br />found liable for injuries caused by two dogs that had bitten seven other people in the previous <br />13 months and were known to city officials to be vicious and prone to unprovoked attacks on <br />sidewalk pedestrians. The court held that this was a narrow extension of the city’s common- <br />law duty to maintain its streets and sidewalks, when (1) vicious dogs prowl the public <br />sidewalks, (2) the appropriate municipal officials have knowledge, (3) the officials know that <br />the owner is failing in its duty to restrain, and (4) confinement and impoundment are <br />reasonably achievable. <br />While the Supreme Court made sure to specify that it was only narrowly expanding liability to <br />this extreme situation, this case does demonstrate that cities can be held liable for failure to <br />properly regulate dangerous dogs when the city is on notice. Thus it is important that the City <br />have an ordinance that is enforceable and enforced. <br />B. Preemption of Existing Ordinance <br />The residents that requested this review argued that City Code § 91.36 conflicts with the state <br />dangerous dog statute and is thus preempted. The state law expressly provides local <br />jurisdictions with broad authority to regulate dangerous dogs: <br />Any statutory or home rule charter city, or any county, may regulate potentially <br />dangerous and dangerous dogs. Except as provided in section 347.51, subdivision 8, <br />nothing in sections 347.50 to 347.565 limits any restrictions that the local jurisdictions <br />may place on owners of potentially dangerous or dangerous dogs. <br />Minn. Stat. § 347.53. The only limitation on this authority, referenced in the above provision, <br />provides: <br />A statutory or home rule charter city, or a county, may not adopt an ordinance <br />regulating dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs based solely on the specific breed <br />of the dog. Ordinances inconsistent with this subdivision are void. <br />Thus the only restriction on local regulations of dangerous dogs under the state law is that the <br />local jurisdiction cannot discriminate by breed of dog. Other than this limitation, the state law