| source: http://www.dallasnews. com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011708dnmetani malcontrol.218a773.html 11:42 PM CST on Thursday, January 17, 2008 DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News Pet number limits. Mandatory spaying and neutering of most dogs and cats. A partial ban on chaining animals to trees or posts. These are among the recommendations Dallas’ Animal Shelter Commission unanimously approved Thursday night, agreeing that the city’s stray animal population is out of control and too many pets are being neglected by owners. The Dallas City Council-appointed commission’s suggestions, made in conjunction with city staff members, will be sent to the council’s quality of life and government services committee for a formal hearing and vote. The full council serves as final arbiter on whether animal control ordinances should be created or amended. The commission’s recommendations include: •Prohibiting city residents from chaining or otherwise tethering their dogs to trees or posts without supervision, arguing that the practice often causes animals to become aggressive or injured and leads to neglect. City animal division manager Willie McDaniel warned that some dog owners will respond by letting their dogs run free. “We will get swamped with loose animals. That will happen,” Mr. McDaniel said. “But we can’t continue to do what we’ve been doing. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” •Requiring all dogs and cats to be spayed and neutered, except those owned by people with breeder permits issued by the city government. Animals under 4 months old and those exhibiting applicable medical conditions would also be exempt. Breeder permits would cost $500 annually and would subject those in possession to random city inspections. •Allowing city residents to keep no more than six dogs, cats or a combination in a single-family home. Animal foster or rescue operations could keep more upon obtaining permission from the city’s animal services director. People with more than six animals would be grandfathered, meaning they would not have to give up pets they own. •Allowing the city to immediately seize animals deemed dangerous, such as those that have attacked a person without provocation. Commission Chairman Skip Trimble said the recommendations are the body’s best effort to address complex problems. “In the long run, I think they should help animal control, and it will therefore help the neighborhoods,” he said, adding that he doesn’t expect the council to formally take up the recommendations until next month at the earliest. |
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We are in the process of gathering information on the status of any draft
ordinance and when the next steps will be taken, but we have reason to
believe that a vote could happen as soon as mid-February.
Please call your city council person and voice your concerns. If you live in
Dallas and wish to make your voice heard, probably the best place to start
is with your city council person, especially if he or she is on the Government
Services and Quality of Life Committee, who will go over the
recommendations before it goes to the full council (scroll down for their
contact info):
===================================================
Points to consider:
There are many concerns among the fancy regarding mandatory
spaying and neutering as well. Will the fees and approval
processes place an undue burden on the responsible hobby
breeders and show dog exhibitors, or will they simply be flaunted
by the irresponsible breeders who will continue to do as they
please? Dallas’ excellent free spay/neuter program should be
further promoted and expanded.
Finally, we hope that the rules regarding the seizure of
dangerous dogs will allow due process to the owners and define
“dangerous” in a reasonable way. Texas state law currently has
a reasonable definition in the Texas Health and Safety Code
section 822.041.
CONTACT INFO for Government Services and Quality of Life
Committee
contact info for full council is here
Chair, Pauline Medrano
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4048 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Vice Chair, Vonciel Jones Hill
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-0777 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Carolyn R. Davis
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4689 / Fax (214) 670-5115
Angela Hunt
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-5415 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Sheffie Kadane
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4069 / Fax (214) 670-5115
David A. Neumann
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-0776 / Fax (214) 670-1833
Steve Salazar
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4199 / Fax (214) 670-5115
ordinance and when the next steps will be taken, but we have reason to
believe that a vote could happen as soon as mid-February.
Please call your city council person and voice your concerns. If you live in
Dallas and wish to make your voice heard, probably the best place to start
is with your city council person, especially if he or she is on the Government
Services and Quality of Life Committee, who will go over the
recommendations before it goes to the full council (scroll down for their
contact info):
===================================================
Points to consider:
- Some dogs can't stand to be crated or kenneled, but
thrive with tethering as their primary means of
confinement. Correct tethering includes an area that is
clean and free of obstructions, and -- most importantly – a
responsible owner providing exercise, socialization and
human attention. - The popular opinion is that tethered dogs are more likely
to bite people. Aggression is caused by genetics, lack of
socialization and abuse -- conditions that can exist in a
yard, a kennel or even inside a home. - If tethering is illegal, what will happen to all the dogs?
Does the city Animal Control department currently have
enough resources to enforce existing leash and cruelty
laws? Do we want scarce resources spent on people
whose dogs are not bothering anyone and are well cared
for, but happen to be tethered? - How many dogs will be turned loose, or left in yards with
inadequate fencing and allowed to escape? These dogs
may harm another animal or even a person, so they must
be brought to the city shelter. There are not enough
places in rescue groups or new homes to absorb more
large adult dogs. Almost all of them will be destroyed. - Lower income people and renters, who cannot afford to
build new fences and kennels, bear the brunt of anti-
tethering laws.
There are many concerns among the fancy regarding mandatory
spaying and neutering as well. Will the fees and approval
processes place an undue burden on the responsible hobby
breeders and show dog exhibitors, or will they simply be flaunted
by the irresponsible breeders who will continue to do as they
please? Dallas’ excellent free spay/neuter program should be
further promoted and expanded.
Finally, we hope that the rules regarding the seizure of
dangerous dogs will allow due process to the owners and define
“dangerous” in a reasonable way. Texas state law currently has
a reasonable definition in the Texas Health and Safety Code
section 822.041.
CONTACT INFO for Government Services and Quality of Life
Committee
contact info for full council is here
Chair, Pauline Medrano
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4048 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Vice Chair, Vonciel Jones Hill
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-0777 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Carolyn R. Davis
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4689 / Fax (214) 670-5115
Angela Hunt
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-5415 / Fax (214) 670-5117
Sheffie Kadane
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4069 / Fax (214) 670-5115
David A. Neumann
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-0776 / Fax (214) 670-1833
Steve Salazar
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5FS
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Phone: (214) 670-4199 / Fax (214) 670-5115
| CITY UPDATE: DALLAS, TX -- January, 2008 |
| Facts on Tethering: For details on safe and humane tethering techniques, please see Diane Jessup’s excellent article on tethering. She is a noted author on the breed and trains APBTs to be certified search and detection dogs Does Spaying and Neutering Reduce Aggression? from ADBA. |
| City of Dallas considering ban on tethering, pet limits and mandatory spay/neuter ordinances. Please contact your city council person -- will the final draft give residents safety, owner accountability, and respect the rights of pet owners? |