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Friday, January 07, 2011
Animals Stand To Benefit From Amendments To County Ordinance
By Dan McKay
Journal Staff Writer
An emaciated pit bull. Frozen pigs. Animals without access to food and water.
Animal advocates say the calls they get from witnesses can be heartbreaking, and they're working with Bernalillo County to do more about it.
At the urging of the nonprofit People for Animal Welfare and others, county commissioners are considering a series of amendments to their animal-care ordinance. The goal is to make the regulations more specific and easier to enforce.
They want to more clearly define what it means to provide "adequate" shelter and humane conditions for animals in the unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County.
"There's no reason for animal cruelty," said Ralph Levine of PAW-New Mexico, which has been pushing for changes for more than a year. "Animals deserve to be cared for."
County commissioners approved introduction of the animal amendments last month. That means the county is seeking public comment on the proposed changes and will consider them again Jan. 25. More changes still could be considered.
Here are some of the proposed amendments:
• All animals must be provided adequate food and water. The food must be nutritious enough to keep the animal in good health and provided at least once daily. The water must be potable and provided in a way that prevents its container from being overturned.
• All animals kept outdoors shall be provided with adequate shelter. Livestock kept on more than 1 acre is excluded from this requirement.
Adequate shelter is defined as something that provides protection from rain, direct sunlight and physical suffering. It must be big enough for each animal to stand up, lie down and stretch comfortably.
For dogs and cats, the shelter must have a solid floor that's elevated from the ground and contains insulation between the ground and floor.
• Animals could be restrained by a trolley system under certain circumstances. They couldn't, however, be kept on a "fixed-point chain" for longer than an hour.
• It would be illegal to have an animal that is injured or showing signs of disease or starvation without arranging for veterinary care.
Levine said the changes don't go far enough. He wants the definition of adequate water to include that the water be unfrozen. A pit bull over New Year's weekend had access only to a frozen water bowl, he said.
Levine wants additional restrictions on when animals can be kept on a trolley system, among other changes.
But generally, he said, the proposal is a step in the right direction.
"I believe the changes will give animal care (officers) more ability to enforce the ordinance," Levine said. "... No one wants to see a dog or puppy or cat or any animal suffer unnecessarily."
Marcy Britton of the Alliance Against Animal Abuse isn't optimistic at all about the proposed changes. She doesn't believe the county enforces the rules already on the books.
"You can't legislate compassion and common sense," Britton said.
Becky Darrow, the county's director of Animal Care Services, said the county does enforce the rules on the books and takes some animal owners to court. The goal, however, is to get people to comply with the rules, rather than simply file complaints in court. That means owners are usually given about two weeks to come into compliance with the rules before facing legal action, she said.
"If there's an animal suffering, we'll definitely take it straight to court," Darrow said.
Other critics of the changes say some provisions are impractical. Some livestock won't take advantage of shelter even when it's offered, they say.
Robert DeYoung, the legislative liaison of the Rio Grande Kennel Club, said most people want to provide the best care to their animals that they can, but that doesn't mean the amendments under consideration will work.
"Some of the things I'm seeing in these ordinance proposals are overreaching or can have pretty serious unintended consequences," he said.
The ordinance, DeYoung pointed out, calls for dogs kept outdoors to have access to a pen at least 5 feet tall. But that may be too big for small dogs who can't stay warm with so much space.
He said he is also concerned that the trolley systems outlined in the proposal aren't commercially available.
DeYoung said the county ought to let a committee of interested parties study all the options in depth rather than go ahead with the amendments proposed at this point.
Bernalillo County has 11 animal control officers on staff, and they respond to calls seven days a week, Darrow said. They also go on patrol to spot violations.
Violating the animal ordinance can result in a $300 fine and up to 90 days in jail.
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