Monday, March 5, 2012

A Few Thoughts

I read all the comments before posting them.  So long as they're not crude, foul or in some way deranged, I post them. From the comments, I'm aware of people's frustrations with the conditions of many of the dogs in Monroe.  Some people get mad at the dog owners, some get mad at law enforcement, and some get mad at the dogs!  What's the solution?  
I decided it was time for a fresh look at the AC Ordinances.  Problems abound. 

The AC Ordinances were last updated in 1999.  
In the year 2000 the population of Monroe was roughly 24,000.  
In the year 2009 the population was 33,400. 
Let's take a look at some ordinances.

1. "It shall be unlawful for any person to locate, keep or maintain on any lot or parcel of land within the corporate limits more than two dogs over four months of age......."
Some people have complained because kennels were placed at homes with more than 2 dogs.  Would anyone like to be the one picking which dogs should be taken and killed?  No.

I have an idea on how this could be handled.  It's called "grandfathering".  It means those pets owners would be allowed to keep their dogs BUT they'd have to agree to spay/neuter all of them.  Remember, the Humane Society will do this for free. 
What do you think of this idea?  I'd like your feedback.

2. "Female dogs in heat shall be confined in such a manner as to prevent them from attracting other dogs." 
This is a good law but what do you do about a pet owner who doesn't let his unspayed female run loose but still breeds her? Hmm.  Perhaps a mandatory spay/neuter law is the way to go.  Any breeders would have to register with the city.  It's a thought. 

3. "It shall be unlawful for any person to allow an animal enclosure of any nature to become unsanitary or allow mosquitoes, flies or other insects and vermin to breed therein." 
I look at this law and get visions of the bug man coming out to count mosquitoes or look for rats.   

4.  "No owner or keeper of any dog shall permit such dog to run at large or cause a nuisance to any other person."
This is a good law.  Barking dogs would fall under this one. 

In reading through the AC Ordinances three times, there's really not much else worth mentioning.  There's not!  These ordinances are so pitiful and so lacking that it dawned on me what's happened. Not only are there dogs on chains, we've got law enforcement in chains because they don't have the ordinances they need to help the dogs. 

It's time to rewrite the ordinances.  The police and/or AC go out when we call them.  But they can only enforce the laws that are on the books.  It's past time to write new ordinances.  Opinions?

2 comments:

  1. Yes, thank you, I've been mentioning this over and over again and I'm glad someone is FINALLY recognizing and addressing the limitations of the ORDINANCES rather than just blaming the law enforcement officers (although in my experience there is room for improvement in the law enforcement area, too). But I'm a little disappointed to see that no one else has input on this subject. Why is that?

    First of all, 24 hour chaining for life has got to be eliminated. There should be strict limits on the number of hours a dog can be tethered outside, and only when the owner is at home/in the yard with the dog. AND no PUPPY chaining/tethering unless the owner is right there with the puppy, and no puppies left outside on their own at all even in a fenced yard. No penning 24 hours/day for life either. It's the same as chaining, but without a chain. Just ask the sad, penned dog that lives behind me...

    A dog poop ordinance is NECESSARY...all CIVILIZED communities have one...one that SPECIFICALLY addresses dog feces and the proper disposal of it, not only on public and private properties, but also on the owners' own property because that smell and flies coming from my neighbors' yards is overwhelming and disgusting.

    Registration and licensing, with higher fees for people who have unaltered animals.

    Breeders. I'd like to eliminate all of them, especially when I start hearing litters of penned puppies barking in my neighborhood, but I know that's not reasonable but you can weed out the more irresponsible breeders by placing limits on them and making them dish out some money. AND no "Puppies for Sale" signs in front of homes or on street corners.

    The penalties for violations should be stronger. Increased fines, plus mandatory responsible pet owner classes or, depending on the offense, mandatory dog training classes (at the owner's expense)...just like traffic school for driving violations...

    AND, when AC investigates any complaints they should automatically ask to see proof of current rabies vaccinations, which I know for a fact they don't always do.

    Those are just a few suggestions. The list of changes that need to be made to make this a better community for animals AND people is very long. Like I keep saying, look at the ordinances of civilized communities who have a strong, and long, set of animal control and welfare ordinances that address every issue surrounding animals, and look at cases that have gone to court to find where weaknesses and loopholes are in the wording of laws.

    I know a few responsible dog owners, but the number of irresponsible dog owners is staggering. Responsible dog owners should welcome a STRONG set of animal control and welfare ordinances because, folks, the irresponsible people are giving all dog owners, and dogs, a bad name. I mention dog owners specifically because in my neighborhood that's who most of the problem people are, but there are serious cat issues, too, and unfortunately I think some people just deal with cats by killing them when they become a problem and this generally goes unnoticed when you have free roaming (feral and stray) cats.

    Most of us who read this blog know it's not the dogs' fault, but the reason people start blaming the animals is because they get nowhere with the ignorant/negligent/rude owners or the laws/law enforcement and are at their wits end, especially when you have barking and odors that are preventing you from getting sleep and enjoying your home and your property, or free roaming animals that destroy and/or foul your yard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We have started a group on Facebook called "Reforming UCAC". It's a group of concerned animal owners who want to "upgrade" our ordinances in Union County and get the lawmakers to change the law on gasing in the shelters. Forever Angels Rescue of Charlotte posted this report and it got us going and working on how we can change this. Apparantly the shelter would rather gas the shelter animals than allow the rescues to jump in and help with rehoming their adoptable pets. http://www.ncagr.gov/vet/aws/Inspections/Union_County/documents/Unionco04102012UnioncountyAnimalServices.pdf

    This is a post from our FB page, maybe some people from this group would like to meet with us and see just what we can do to help out our county:

    The next Monroe City Council meeting is scheduled for August 21st. Think we could get a group together in time to speak up then? There is some information about UCAC that was discussed at the meeting yesterday or will be discussed at the August 21st meeting: http://click2gov.monroenc.org/agendamanager/City%20Council/2012-07/17-18-00/Packet.pdf (on page 244 of this document).

    I'm honestly not sure how to read this information or how to go about bringing up our issue at meetings. I haven't had much experience in working with city governments to change ordinances and such, so I would love some input from anyone more familiar with working with our local government on this issue.

    ReplyDelete