PAROWAN – The city council heard from several concerned residents last Thursday after two dogs were killed the previous week by a man police deemed was protecting his lambs.

Natalie Jenson said the first dog, a Chocolate Labrador belonging to Lance Stubbs, was killed Jan. 17 and her ex-husband’s Blue Heeler was killed Jan. 20.

Stubbs said his dog had gotten away from him and followed his parents’ car down the street, and Jenson’s ex-husband, Kerry Jenson, said he had left his dog in his truck at Natalie Jenson’s parents’ house while they went to a parent-teacher conference.

Both men said their dogs had been around sheep in the past and they did not believe they would harass anyone’s sheep.

They said regardless of whether their dogs were justly killed, they did not believe it was OK for anyone to be shooting within city limits. A stray bullet could kill a child, they said.

The Jensons said they were upset that Police Chief Preston Griffiths had responded and had said Garn Page, the alleged shooter, was within his rights.

Rose Page, whose husband allegedly shot the dogs, said she has a few lambs in her backyard that she bottle fed and is very attached to. She said they have been dealing with dogs getting in with their sheep for years and these instances were the first time her husband had shot a dog.

She read a letter from her husband that said if the dogs’ owners had kept them leashed or fenced, as the law requires, the painful event would have been avoided and they would still be friends.

“They broke the law first,” she said.

Though Kerry Jenson and Stubbs both said Garn Page had told them their dogs had not chased or harassed his lambs, Rose Page said they had been chasing them.

Kerry Jenson said a neighbor had told him his dog had been playing in her yard with her children when she looked away briefly, heard a gunshot, turned back and saw it fall dead, still in her yard. Stubbs said the same neighbor told him she had asked Garn Page not to shoot his dog, but he had anyway.

Rose Page said she was on the porch and there were no children around when the dogs were shot.

Several others spoke at the meeting, saying they were concerned if someone was allowed to shoot dogs in town people might end up getting hurt or killed. Natalie Jenson said she is now afraid to let her children play outside.

Griffiths said he believes the law allowing the shooting of dogs to protect livestock supersedes the law forbidding shooting in city limits.

Justin Wayment, who serves as attorney for the city, said the laws could be construed the way Griffiths interpreted them, and he will draft an ordinance that the council can decide whether to approve requiring those with livestock in the city to call the police rather than shoot the offending animal if their animals are being harassed or attacked.

He said he realizes police may not be able to get there before the livestock animal is killed, but it is extremely dangerous to have shooting within the city.

As of last Thursday, the investigation had been taken over by the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, and statements were still being taken.

Also at the meeting, the council voted to decommission the Center Creek Power Plant, with the right to rescind the decision if the city was able to come to an agreement with a third party within 30 days.

Von Mellor, electrical department director, said the plant has been off for a couple years and everything in it is outdated. For a period of 30 or more years it was not maintained to the standard it should have been, and to bring it up to date they would almost have to start over. Getting it running would cost an estimated $3 million to $4 million, he said.

The cost to decommission, he guessed, would be a couple hundred thousand at the most. They have to work with a lot of agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the Division of Wildlife Resources, and others. They will likely have to remove pipe and do some restoration work, and may have to restore the flow of the creek, he said.

Because of the amount of time it has been unused, they were under a strict timeline to do something with it by March 1.

Austin LeFevre said since the plant was put in, it has all had the dual purpose of providing power and irrigation water. It is important to the farmers to keep the irrigation water from that spot, he said, and encouraged the city to talk with the pumpers and reservoir company try to transfer that responsibility.

Mayor Don Landes said if they did take away that irrigation water that would cause a severe economic problem.