New Law Will Not Work
"Hello Mayor Ness and City Council,
I'm here today to tell you why the limit law will not work and why it will do more harm than good in the long run.
First lets look at the way this law is written. As it states currently it make it unlawful for any person to have more than three (3) dogs or three (3) cats over six (6) months of age on his/her premises or any combination thereof for a total of three (3).”
So if I have 3 dogs and a stray cat starts hanging around my house, according to that I am in violation of the law. Or if I have 3 dogs and a relative visits and brings their dog along, again I am in violation. There are also times when I volunteer to transport animals. Animals that would otherwise be put down and are traveling to and from shelters, rescues and their new homes. Sometimes these transports do require a lay over of a night or a week before the next leg of the transport. This law would make illegal for me to take part in volunteering.
The new law as I see it is unenforceable. How can you expect to have this law enforced when current laws aren't? We have a leash law. As written it applies to dogs and cats. On any given day I can look out my window and count the number of people using leashes on 1 hand.We have a law that says leashes must be used, but it is unenforced. Also what exactly is the fine for not following the leash law? I've looked up and down the ordinance and see nothing mentioning what the fine is.
Licensing: Licenses expire April 1st of each year. But how long after April 1st do we have to renew them? That also is not made clear in the current ordinance. I would venture to guess that less than half of the dogs residing in town are licensed, this include dogs owned by city workers.Why should the residents license their dogs when city workers aren't? Or is that another perk of working for the city?
Would this new law affect residents already owning more than 3 animals? If so you'd be helping to add to an already overburdened shelter system by forcing residents to give up their animals. When the shelters say No More we're full, guess what happens then? Many of those animals will be dumped on gravel roads.
What the city needs to do isn't create a new law which will only affect those already following the current laws and hurt the efforts of rescue, what needs to be done is fixing those loose ends in the current laws and then follow through with enforcing them.
I would like to also make you aware of Bill H. R. 3501 the `Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act' that is currently in Congress. This bill if passed would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for pet care expenses. While the National government appears to moving ahead and helping pets and their owners the city of Pipestone would be making a big move backwards."
Rough draft, thoughts?
I'm here today to tell you why the limit law will not work and why it will do more harm than good in the long run.
First lets look at the way this law is written. As it states currently it make it unlawful for any person to have more than three (3) dogs or three (3) cats over six (6) months of age on his/her premises or any combination thereof for a total of three (3).”
So if I have 3 dogs and a stray cat starts hanging around my house, according to that I am in violation of the law. Or if I have 3 dogs and a relative visits and brings their dog along, again I am in violation. There are also times when I volunteer to transport animals. Animals that would otherwise be put down and are traveling to and from shelters, rescues and their new homes. Sometimes these transports do require a lay over of a night or a week before the next leg of the transport. This law would make illegal for me to take part in volunteering.
The new law as I see it is unenforceable. How can you expect to have this law enforced when current laws aren't? We have a leash law. As written it applies to dogs and cats. On any given day I can look out my window and count the number of people using leashes on 1 hand.We have a law that says leashes must be used, but it is unenforced. Also what exactly is the fine for not following the leash law? I've looked up and down the ordinance and see nothing mentioning what the fine is.
Licensing: Licenses expire April 1st of each year. But how long after April 1st do we have to renew them? That also is not made clear in the current ordinance. I would venture to guess that less than half of the dogs residing in town are licensed, this include dogs owned by city workers.Why should the residents license their dogs when city workers aren't? Or is that another perk of working for the city?
Would this new law affect residents already owning more than 3 animals? If so you'd be helping to add to an already overburdened shelter system by forcing residents to give up their animals. When the shelters say No More we're full, guess what happens then? Many of those animals will be dumped on gravel roads.
What the city needs to do isn't create a new law which will only affect those already following the current laws and hurt the efforts of rescue, what needs to be done is fixing those loose ends in the current laws and then follow through with enforcing them.
I would like to also make you aware of Bill H. R. 3501 the `Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act' that is currently in Congress. This bill if passed would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for pet care expenses. While the National government appears to moving ahead and helping pets and their owners the city of Pipestone would be making a big move backwards."
Rough draft, thoughts?