Tuesday, Feb 21st @ 6pm
Location: City Council Chambers located at City Hall, 300 West Crowell Street, Monroe, NC 28110
Note: It's starts at 6 so if you wish to speak, get there a few minutes early to sign in.
Note: This blog has been up for just one week. It's had over 4500 hits and has basically traveled the globe. We are making progress thanks to some fabulous volunteers, an Animal Control officer who really cares and the Monroe Police Dept who are of great help when they're called.
But how did things get to this point? What needs to change on a city level? There are many other questions.
Part 1 of a 2 part comment (I had to break it up because I can only use so many characters and my comment is long, but you can learn something from it):
ReplyDeleteORDINANCES. The ordinances need to change. Like I said before, you can educate a few people with words, but the rest need a law and a penalty to keep them in line.
In order for ordinances to work, that is to be of any use to animal control/law enforcement and the courts, and thus keep the masses (or dog owners as it were) under control, they need to have substance, be clearly defined/specifically worded. The wording of an ordinance is very important for both the population to know EXACTLY what is expected from them, and for the law enforcement to know EXACTLY when a law has been violated.
Ordinances that contain the words "might" and "may" are weak; you want ordinances that state something definite and include terms such as "will" and "shall"..."you WILL do this, or this SHALL happen" rather than "we MIGHT do this, or we MAY do that".
You also want specific wording: "the shelter must be x number of feet by x number of feet, must allow the animal to sit, stand, and lay comfortably, be completely sheltered from the elements, and be kept in a sanitary condition, etc., etc.", as opposed to "you must provide shelter" which could ultimately mean almost anything. This is very important in order for the animal control officer to recognize that the shelter is or isn't exactly what the LAW says it is supposed to be AND for it to actually stand up in a court of law. Remember, the animal control officer is a LAW enforcement officer and needs specific LAWS to enforce, laws that actually state something specific in order for him/her to appear in court and not look like an idiot in front of the judge. AND if your ordinance just says "a shelter" a defense attorney, or even an idiot, can get up there, show the judge a picture of a dog in a barrel, and argue that shelter has been provided and probably win because the judge has no definite LEGAL standards with which to determine what the shelter should LEGALLY be and if indeed a law has been violated.
Remember, we are talking about the LAW here, not common sense or emotions. Anyone who has been to court should know that the law is very tedious and if there is any vagueness or any loopholes they can be used to the advantage of the perpetrator.
Part 2 of my 2 part comment about ORDINANCES:
ReplyDeleteSUBSTANCE:
Take a look at these animal ordinances for Elkhart, Indiana. They aren't perfect in my opinion but since I can't find the ordinance I was actually looking for, just use these as an example of substance and for comparison to our local ordinances:
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Indiana/elkhart_in/titleixgeneralregulations/chapter90animals?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:elkhart_in
and then take a look at our joke...I mean animal ordinances for the City of Monroe: http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/North%20Carolina/monroe/titleixgeneralregulations/chapter91animals?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:monroe_nc
You must also look outside of the Animal Control ordinances for other ordinances that could potentially protect animals in some way. For example, under Public Nuisance ordinances, some cities cite that maintaining an animal in a condition that produces offensive odors is unlawful. This ordinance is actually drafted in order to preserve the rights of humans/neighbors to be able to enjoy their properties, but if offensive odors are produced that usually means the dog (or whatever animal) is living in a disgusting accumulation of its own feces and urine, and perhaps among trash and garbage, so if this ordinance is enforced the animal owner will have to maintain sanitary conditions for the animal(s), which is a win for animals. Understand?
MOST IMPORTANT: in The City of Monroe anyone can LEGALLY chain a dog 24 hours per day, from puppyhood to death. Once dog chaining is outlawed, or at least regulated in such a way as to legally prevent 24 hour unsupervised chaining, a lot of neglect will end because people will either have to give up the dog, take their dogs inside, or put up a fence...and I don't mean a 10 x 10 chain link kennel which, in my opinion, is just a mere fraction better than being chained because a dog in a small kennel can be just as badly neglected as a dog that is chained, and I've seen it happen many times.
I could go on and on about ordinances and probably draw up a better set of ordinances than many City Councils, but people just have to read and hopefully learn about what works and doesn't work when it comes to ordinances, law enforcement, and the courts, and what to accept and not accept from their law makers.
And, by the way, thank you again to all the volunteers and bloggers that have brought the City of Monroe's horrible neglect of animals to the attention of the world, and most importantly to the attention of the leaders and law makers of The City because they are the ones who have the power to change it all.
I hope you live around here and can attend Tuesday's City Council meeting.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right about what you say regarding proper shelter. A nasty blue barrel is allowed to count as "shelter". Who would even think to take a barrel, turn it on it's side and say, "Spot has a dog house now." But people do it and it's allowed.
Thank you so much for writing.
The "shelter" was just an example I used to compare a well worded ordinance to a poorly worded ordinance. You can't just change one or two sections of an ordinance and expect it to make a real difference. It won't make a difference. I know dogs who have excellent dog houses...why? because I acquired the houses for the dogs, who actually had less than a barrel for shelter...and they get fed regularly because Animal Control had a "talk" with the owners...yet the dogs still lived in filth, either chained or in a pen, living with their feces/urine accumulation, IN A TRASHY YARD... So knowing the animal ordinances don't address those issues, I then complain about the trash and the odors, and guess what? The ordinances that address those issues are enforced, and the property is cleaned up, including the dogs' living areas. But, of course, they are still living chained or in small pens. Unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteBut those are just a few dogs because I can't montitor all of them; so this is where it is important to have other members of the community involved, and I don't mean just animal lovers.
In order for things to really change, this gross animal neglect problem needs to be look at as a community issues, how this neglect affects the whole community, people too, not just the animals and not just the animal lovers in the population. I'd be my last dollar if you approached the City Council on that level, as a community problem that affects every memeber of the community, becauase it does, rather than approach them only on the animal neglect level, you'd make much better advancements in making this City a better place for animals to live.
As long as you address only the needs of the animals, you will only have animal lovers on your side and very little will change, but you need more of the community involved to really make this work and to make a lasting change for the animals, and in order to get more of the community involved you must also appeal to the senses of the other people as well.
And I'm telling you this as both and animal lover who feels pain for the neglected animals I see, and as an individual in the community who is also affected by the other "by-products" of the neighboring gross animal neglect. I see and understand both sides, and this is what needs to happen if you want change.