Dog Law and Breed Legislation 07

The Animal Council

Fights for dog owner’s rights!

THE ANIMAL COUNCIL’S web is updated frequently supplementing advocacy information through these Updates with new and expanded features. In 2007 we will again track California bills in a table format with links. Last month, we added a new page (linked from the Breed Specific Law page on the navigation bar) “State Breed Specific Preemption Laws” with citations for the existing state preemption laws. Misinformation about the impact of the 2005 California SB 861 modifying but not eliminating California’s preemption has risen to the level of Snopes.

TAC’S continually expanding Current Legislative Material page has additional details and materials on local and other significant matters, a number of which have not been covered in these Updates but are still pending, including:

KERN COUNTY CALIFORNIA new Animal Control Commission is dealing with items referred by the Board of Supervisors including changes in the animal facility law, now reaching a draft stage, and a mandatory spay/neuter proposal from a citizen group still in the discussion stage. County residents should closely monitor both the commission and BOS meeting agendas and any linked materials.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ordinance progression into its contract cities has been slow and the County has changed its web materials over the months.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY separate, proposed mandatory microchip and mandatory spay/neuter ordinances have been under review by County Counsel and are expected to return in 2007. Also expected to resurface in 2007 are SACRAMENTO COUNTY and the CITY OF SAN JOSE.

CITY OF RANCHO CORDOVA, SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA has a totally amended animal ordinance currently before the City Council. This places considerable, questionable authority in the Neighborhood Services Supervisor. Considering that Michael Rodriquez, formerly Director in Stanislaus County is now in Rancho Cordova, this is a modest proposal. However, replacement director in Stanislaus County, Michael McFarland (career local AC employee in California) is now asking for “mandatory spay and neuter” in addition to the breeder licensing and high fee unaltered dog license enacted in 2005.

GREAT FALLS, MONTANA also has a totally amended ordinance currently before its City Commission (the lawmaking body) that has troubling provisions including low limits tied to a multiple animal permit that may not including breeding for “compensation” which is restricted by zoning.

LOUISVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY ordinance passage last week marks a new plateau (or perhaps low) in bizarre, detrimental provisions although the final version is not yet available. It would seem to surpass Albuquerque’s “HEART” ordinance enacted earlier this year as a unique, locally developed ordinance containing provisions far outside the range of tried and tested animal ordinances and ultimately excluding animal fanciers from the community. Many ordinances we review contain mindless cut and paste material copied from other jurisdictions, often taken out of original context, by lazy bureaucrats and justified as keeping current with law enforcement tools. These are typically locally driven with little or no influence from the animal protection movement but may be as exclusionary to dog, and especially cat fanciers as the ideological ordinances.

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