Need Input on Animal Ordinance

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:59 am

I have found myself in the position of sitting on the Board of Trustees in a very small town in Okahoma (town counsel type stuff). Being in an extremely rural area, one of the largest problems that we face is the stray dog population. Some folks drop unwanted dogs out in the country to get rid of them and some owners just let their dogs run seriously amuk, some are neglected by owners using them to support illegal agendas.

One of our goals in the town is to keep ordinances and regulations to a minimum while still trying to provide for our citizenry. Most complaints that come in to the town hall are dog related so we are going to have to come up with something.....we have very limited revenue and no municiple court system so we are not allowed to impose any type of fines...

I was wanting to ask responsible dog people: If you could write your own odinances regulating pets/kennels/breeders, etc. and still protect animals and the rights of their owners, what would you include, exclude or want to make sure was discussed.

Defining ceratin terms in the discussion would be particularly helpful.

Below is a paragraph take from the town meeting agenda as put to the board members.

The town will end up passing something and I want to make sure that I can be a responsible voice in an area where we seem to be losing ground these days. Would love advice from everyone.

The moderators have generously allowed me to post what can be a very controversial subject. I ask in advance that everyone please keep this a healthy, respectful exchange of ideas out of respect for those that work very hard on this forum and I thank you in advance for your input.

Discussion and/or action on giving input to the Planning and Zoning Commission concerning animal control regulations

Planning and Zoning Commissioners asked for input concerning animal control regulations. Commissioners indicated that they do not want to spend a lot of time on developing rules if the Board of Trustees is not interested in them and would like to know what extent of rules to propose. Board members had discussion concerning kennels, the number of dogs/cats/species/pets to allow for each property owner, containment and picking up of animals, housing and disposal of animals, leash laws, how to define at large animals, what to do with animals that are off of their owner's property, costs - how to financially resolve the problem, annual permits, kennel fees, limits to breeders, operators annual fees, fairness to businesses and not to discriminate with kennel owners, decide where you allow kennels, how many to allow, how to define a kennel, should there be a limit on the number of dogs put in kennels, appropriate zoning areas for kennels, state and federal laws concerning euphonizing animals, humane treatment of animals and enforcement of animal control regulations.

BigShooter · Post by **BigShooter** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:21 pm

I'm not trying to put you off but did you try a google search for sample ordinances?

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:13 pm

Yes, I have. Not knowing how or by whom they were written though, I thought that getting input from those with a vested interest would give me a basis of comparison that could possibly help write something for our particular situation.

I would particularly be interested to know what some of the members on the board would feel like would qualify as a kennel?

What do you feel like would be an appropriate number of animals per given amount of space? Would you base this on the size of the animal?

I, myself, have 5 dogs and until very recently I had 5 acres (I have been lucky enough to have been able to add an additional 5. I sit on the board with someone that feels like, based on zoning, that I live in a residential area and that kennels should not be allowed in residential areas....would I be allowed to breed one of my dogs and sell the resulting litter or would that qualify me as operating a kennel?

Would it be fair to impose fees for kennel operator or breeders? If so, how much? Do you feel like it should be a one time fee or an annual fee?

There are many questions I would be curious to have answered by dog owners themselves. It is hard to say who existing ordinances were written by and their motives......

Maybe it would be easier to discuss each of the items separately......

Ex: What do you consider a "stray" or "at large" animal? If an "at large" animal was detained, how long would be an acceptable time to hold the animal if owners could not be contacted.

lvrgsp · Post by **lvrgsp** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:32 pm

Jess I was a board trustee for 4 years, I could probably get you some different ideas on ordinances, however, first of do you have any kind of ordinance enforcement in place, ie. Law enforcement, municipal or county?

Chip

AHGSP · Post by **AHGSP** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:48 pm

Might I suggest you look to this organization:
http://www.naiaonline.org/

and these "Guidelines" to provide food for thought:
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/PetFriendlyGuide.pdf

I find myself in a very similar situation, but not on the board. Rather, I've been providing info like the above and info straight from HSUS "Policy Statements" to discredit info that the dissenting Member(Anti) of the Board has provided from HSUS "views" on proper kennels; Mandatory spay/neuter; pet limits; etc.....

I live in a very rural agricultural area, needless to say, a few eyebrows have raised JUST after reading the HSUS "Policy Statements" alone.

HTH some.

snips · Post by **snips** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:21 pm

We are registered as a kennel with the state. They charge 100. for under 20 dogs and 200. for over. They will generally show up once a yr to look around, unannounced. They have a check list to cover that I am sure can be seen online, but it is not super strict in the country. They are mostly checking to make sure animals are provided for and in decent housing.

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:42 pm

Jess I was a board trustee for 4 years, I could probably get you some different ideas on ordinances, however, first of do you have any kind of ordinance enforcement in place, ie. Law enforcement, municipal or county?

Chip

The town does not have any kind of ordinance enforcement in place. No police or municiple court. We have the county sheriff but they are extremely limited in what they will do in the way of animal control. They are pretty much limited to extreme neglect or animals that pose an immenent threat, I believe. I would love any additional insight that you could offer.

AHGSP,

Thanks for the links. I will explore those some more.

Snips,

Do you feel like the kennel registration is a fair process? What is the minimum number of dogs to designated as a kennel? Do you feel like it would deter those that were not serious about multiple dog ownership and
help eliminate situation where people ended up with more dogs than they could effectively care for?

Post by **ezzy333** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:59 pm

A kennel should be where a person is boarding other peoples dogs while training or just boarding. In other words a Kennel is a business, otherwise it is just a place you keep your dogs.

A dog at large is any loose dog off of the owners property.

A stray dog is any dog at large that the owner hasn't claimed in 5 days.

The number of dogs a person has should not be an issue but rather noise or odor should be the concern.

These are a few of my ideas of what is government responsibility without getting in to the individuals responsibility.

Ezzy

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:23 pm

Ezzy,

Do you fill like a kennel should be restricted to a commercially zoned area or left to the individual if noise and/or odor requirements are met. What types of odor and noise requirements do you feel are fair and how would these be measured?

Post by **ezzy333** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:53 pm

You might restrict size in the zoning requirements. A large commercial kennel should not be in a residential area. Noise and odor would be measured by neighbors complaints and then checked or monitored by the animal control officer or who ever has the responsibility of maintaining the standard.

First complaint is a notice given, second complaint is a warning, and third could be a penalty of some kind. The person complaining for the second time and third time would have to notify the authority at the time of the infringement so it can be confirmed by the officer in charge who would issue the warning promptly.

Ezzy

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:13 pm

thanks everyone for the input thus far! It has been great. Keep it coming.

JessW · Post by **JessW** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:17 pm

Might I suggest you look to this organization:
http://www.naiaonline.org/

and these "Guidelines" to provide food for thought:
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/PetFriendlyGuide.pdf

I find myself in a very similar situation, but not on the board. Rather, I've been providing info like the above and info straight from HSUS "Policy Statements" to discredit info that the dissenting Member(Anti) of the Board has provided from HSUS "views" on proper kennels; Mandatory spay/neuter; pet limits; etc.....

I live in a very rural agricultural area, needless to say, a few eyebrows have raised JUST after reading the HSUS "Policy Statements" alone.

Bruce,

This is fabulous information! I have forwarded it to our other board members as well as the planning and zoning board! Thanks a lot!

thedarrenpeters · Post by **thedarrenpeters** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:13 pm

I second Ezzy's opinion on this topic, however, the noise would be a bit harder to judge, some people wouldn't complain over 20 dogs barking, some would complain over one dog barking, et cetera... Very subjective.

I'd prefer some sort of metric if i was a multiple dog owner with outdoor kennels in that area.

That's my two cents.

lvrgsp · Post by **lvrgsp** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:44 pm

Jess, You may want to cross reference any county or township ordinances that pertain to this as well, as they will be enforceable through your county sheriff's dept. We do have a limit here in town to 3 dogs that is inside or outside, combination. That restricted a full kennel operation. If you have established zoning within your community, you can address those different zones as to what you want as far as kennels go, as others have stated they are great ideas. Another option is a leash law, canine, and feline, punishable by a ticket. Now you may want to check on your by laws but the mayor should be able to enforce any laws or ordinances, that may eliminate waiting on the county to show up. Personally I would address the zoning board with a limit of somekind, if exceeding the limit you must be a state licensed kennels, and only approved throught the board in those commercially zoned areas. Just a few thoughts, if I get a chance I will go through the ordinances we have here pertaining to this issue.
Chip