By Andrew Hoover Eastvale – Eastvale residents have raised concerns about the amount of dogs running around the city without a leash or an owner. “It’s a big problem,” Eastvale Mayor Ike Bootsma said in a recent interview. “It seems as though people feel that when animal control isn’t around, they can let their dogs run free.” Most of the incidents occur after 5 p.m. when animal control agents can’t respond, according to the City. Animal control’s policy is to only respond to emergencies, like a dog attack, after 5 p.m. However, the City may authorize the City Manager to call out Animal Control services on a non-emergency basis, at a two hour minimum of $82 per hour. Eastvale does have a leash law within the city and fines aren’t cheap. According to Animal Control, the fine for dog owners who let their dogs run loose is $119 for a first offense. Mayor Ike Bootsma said that he would like to have animal services rotate its patrols between daytime, evenings and weekends. “Most of the stray dogs are out in the evenings and on weekends when animal control is not out here,” he said. At the City Council meeting of January 9, 2012, the City Council requested an update of the contract with the County of Riverside for Animal Control and Field Services. The City entered into an agreement with the County for Animal Control and Field Services effective July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2014. The agreement specifies a basic level of service and also provides for additional services at the discretion of the City including Animal Control Sweeps, Shot Clinics, and Licensing Services. To date, the City has not requested nor paid for these additional services. The service agreement with animal control calls for a half-time animal control officer and animal shelter services at a flat rate of $138 per day. The officer is in Eastvale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., for a total of 20 hours per week. So far, 11 dogs have been reported to be lost or found on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/eastvalecommunitynews). However, there is a possibility that more go unnoticed, which could be a cause of dogs being off their leash.