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Dogs Must Go! "Dogs Must Go” was the rallying cry of Mayor Ralph Kampmeyer exactly 75 years ago today. At the time, O’Fallon was plagued by numerous stray dogs resulting in a chorus of complaints from local residents. City Marshal John E. Tiley asked the City Council on May 4, 1925 to pass an ordinance to allow him to deal with the problem. Kampmeyer (who, incidentally was the father of Estelle after whom the school is named) noted that there were just too many dogs and too few dog licenses being purchased. At the next meeting on June 1, the subject of dogs occupied much of the Council’s time. According to the records of the City Clerk, O’Fallon had between 600 and 700 dogs. However, only about 50 owners had paid the yearly license of $1.20 which was due May 1. After this revelation was made, any doubters left became backers of the mayor’s “Dogs Must Go” campaign. With the Council’s blessing, the police were directed to begin the process of ridding the city of its dog nuisance and hopefully collecting some delinquent dog license fees along the way. All guilty dog owners were notified that unless the annual license was paid immediately, their dogs would “be dispatched to their happy hunting grounds.” The city meant business. The Progress even advised local hardware merchants to stock up on ammunition so that the police wouldn’t be slowed down in their mission by lack of firepower. “O’Fallon has too many houn’ dogs which are absolutely of no use to their owners and a nuisance to the community in general” declared a front page story.
It was not disclosed how many dogs, if any, were actually shot, but the action by the city underscored the seriousness of the problem of roaming dogs in 1920’s O’Fallon.
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