Weekly Roundup - Week ending 8/15/10 (Part 2)

So this is part 2. Sadly, there are a lot of areas of the country out there that are currently looking at what would be really bad legislation -- but the good news, several have already decided against their proposed ordinances. 

As animal welfare advocates, we need to continue to push these cities for RESPONSIBLE legislation based on ordinances that work in regards to our animals -- which means no breed-specific laws, no mandatory spay/neuter and no bans on selling pets.

Cities and Laws:

Foley, AL is looking at changes to their dangerous dog law -- and it appears as if the law is going to be behavior-based.

Red Bank, TN was looking at laws that would target aggressive dogs -- based on the behavior of the animal (not based on breed).

BSL

Point Pleasant, WV appears to be looking at a potential breed ban in the city. Point Pleasant eventually voted against the ban.

Batesville, AR has proposed a ban on 'pit bulls' in the community. The law was originally written to force owners of 'pit bulls' to get rid of their dogs within 60 days of the ordinance passing. The bill has been tabled for some changes for now, but will likely come back soon.

Santa Clara, CA is looking at a new law that would require all 'pit bulls' to be spayed or neutered. Nearly a dozen people and organizations are quoted in the article with varying levels of expertise and none of them support the idea because it is ineffective policy, and yet, the city seems to be unwilling to listen to them why?

Ranklin, MS passed a law that puts harsh restrictions on 'pit bulls' - including requiring special pens, liability insurance and a city license.

The good, the bad and the ugly of Gilroy, CA's breed-specific mandatory spay/neuter -- a well-thought-out editorial that understands why these types of laws don't work.

MSN

Anderson, IN appears to be looking at a law that requires all pets be spayed or neutered. The area doesn't appear to have a low cost spay/neuter program - and one pet owner identified in the article even notes that altering may be cost prohibitive for him in this economy. Hopefully the city will realize that there are no shortcuts to spay/neuter compliance.

Lubbock, TX is looking at potential MSN -- as well as possible restrictions on pet sales. Experts in the community note that such a law has failed elsewhere it has been tried...so hopefully the city council will listen.

Ft. Smith, AR is looking at potential MSN. One proponent of the ordinance points to Asheville, NC as a success story for such an ordinance -- noting that since 1994, euthanasia has gone down 70% in Asheville and more than 200,000 dogs and cats have been altered.  However, it is worth noting that most of this success happened prior to passing MSN due to aggressive voluntary low cost spay/neuter options. MSN wasn't passed in Asheville until 2005 -- and upon passing the ordinance, intake numbers went UP in the community.

Memphis is looking stricter dog laws that will likely involve mandatory spay/neuter of all dogs and cats -- even though it has never worked anywhere, and even though Memphis' Animal Control seems to be completely inept at even their most basic functions -- which if that were fixed, would solve a lot of problems (keep reading).

Yucaipa CA received a report from San Bernardino County as to why they passed their mandatory spay/neuter law of 'pit bulls' and is considering doing the same. Instead of talking to a city that just passed the law, they should talk to one of the cities that has tried it so they can realize what a failure it is. Yucaipa and neighboring Highland both passed similar ordinances.

Henderson, NV passed MSN for all dogs and cats -- residents there have 120 days to comply.

Hollister, CA is looking at potential mandatory spay/neuter for 'pit bulls' and chihuahas.

A fantastic column from the Fosters Daily Democrat about mandatory spay/neuter: the bottom line is that most people already alter their pets, most of the ones who don't can't afford it. And in places where MSN has been tried there has been no improvement -- unless your idea of improvement is more dead animals.

Pet Limits

Nashville is looking at instituting pet limits in their city....even though pet limits do not stop hoarding (which is a disease) but do limit the number of pets that people can own (and often impacts good owners and rescue people).

Pet Store Bans

El Paso voted to continue to allow the sale of pets in pets stores in their community.

One Toronto city council hopeful wants to ban the sale of pets in pets stores because he says it will reduce the number of unwanted pets in the city. Maybe their kill rates would be lower if they weren't killing all dogs with blocky heads under the provencial breed ban.

San Francisco also tabled a law that would have banned the sale of pets in pet stores.

Abuse Cases

A Calgary man was fined $2,070 for kicking and killing a cat. The city has been traditionally pretty good about prosecuting animal cruelty. The fine here was lessened a lot because the act was deemed unintentional but reckless, and the man did take proactive steps to help the situation....

Miscellaneous

Memphis Animal Control killed a dog last week. The dog was picked up by Animal Control during the heart of a 100 degree day. The city's animal control vehicles do not have air conditioning, and the dog was left in the vehicle while the officer made three other calls. The dog, Bailey, suffered a heat stroke while in the vehicle. To make matters worse, Bailey's owner went down to the pound to collect his body but found out the dog, as well as his collar and tags, had already been destroyed.  Animal control in Memphis has had more than its share of problems lately, including having starved a dog to death at the shelter less than a year ago, and AC acknowledging being 800 calls behind on getting their basic jobs done. The city is looking at potential mandatory spay/neuter - but would be a complete disaster (even more so than usual) if animal control is unable to even do their most basic job (like not killing animals).

Pics from the Kansas City T-Bones Bark in the Park Event on 7/25 - from Paw Prints Magazine.

Missouri's Puppy-breeding industry needs a dose of accountability -- a fairly balanced story from the Kansas City Star (although the headline seems like an editorial vs a news story) regarding the new puppy mill law that will be on the Missouri ballot -- and yes, enforcement continues to be our issue here in Missouri.

Dogs need to be prepared for Baby - a good story about the Dog & Storks program in Kansas City. Education is absolutely the key to minimizing dog bites - not these ridiculous breed specific laws that don't solve anything

If you read only one link in this entire post, make it be this one: Dog's grief over loss of best mate

Comments

[Pet Care]

We must feel lucky if you look back at how the legislation on pets was a few decades ago. We just need to put the pressure to get new legislation with no discrimination.

[Robert Garnett]

What about Pet stores being required to alter their animals prior to sale puting them on a level playing field with shelters?

[Brent]

Robert,

Pet Stores usually deal in puppies, and with the the new research showing that juvenile spay/neuter being potentially harmful, it may be mandating creating health problems (at least for some breeds). Also, if people want an unaltered animal, there will still be avenues for getting them, but it will be in a less-regulated place which could also be harmful. While I'm not completely opposed to what you suggest, there may certainly be unintended consequences that would be more negative than positive. The reality is that most people would prefer to adopt a pet now and only a small percent would prefer to buy -- but too often the rescue/shelter experience pushes them toward buying. If the shelter/rescue community would put as much effort into improving the adoption experience as they put into trying to regulate everyone else, the problem could be easily solved tomorrow.

[MichelleD]

The playing field for shelters/rescues isn't level because of their own doing. Using some basic business sense could easily propel them ahead of pet stores in desireability.

We don't need more laws to solve our homeless pet problems.