FW: [RDOWS] TX - Dallas considering stiffer animal controls

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011708dnmetanimalcontrol.218a773.html
Dallas considering stiffer animal controls
City may limit number of pets, require spaying, neutering

08:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 17, 2008
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
The situation is disturbing, if not dire: Thousands of stray animals roam the streets of some Dallas neighborhoods, while others kept as pets live their lives chained to trees or in woefully crowded structures.
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Survey: Should Dallas restrict the number of pets allowed in a house? Acknowledging this, city officials say they will begin discussing how to create or strengthen municipal laws governing animal ownership.
Preliminary ideas include the mandatory spaying or neutering of all pets not owned by registered breeders. Also up for debate is limiting city residents not registered as running foster or rescue operations to six animals per single-family home.

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One of the proposals would prohibit pet owners from chaining their unsupervised dogs to trees or posts. Other proposals would allow city officials to immediately seize dangerous animals and would prohibit pet owners from chaining their unsupervised dogs to trees or posts. The latter is an idea on which the Fort Worth City Council plans to vote next week in response to reports of tethered animals left alone in inhumane conditions.

"All of these proposals for consideration have to do with safety and getting a better handle on the pet population," said Skip Trimble, chairman of Dallas' Animal Shelter Commission, which is slated to discuss the matter on Thursday.
Ultimately, Mr. Trimble wants the commission to recommend a slate of ordinance changes to the City Council.
Animal-related issues rank first among complaints submitted by residents to the city's 311 municipal service system.
In an attempt to facilitate and regulate the city's ever-expanding animal population, city officials have in recent years enacted "pooper scooper" and leash laws, created dog parks and built a 52,000-square-foot animal shelter and services center.
But that's not enough, said Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia, adding that she's eager to debate ordinance proposals at the council level.
Dr. Garcia acknowledged that "animal control issues can get very passionate" and said she expects a fair amount of debate as the animal commission begins vetting these issues.
"But we have some serious problems we have to address, and we have to be creative and look into the future to solve them," she said. "And we have a lot of owners who are not being responsible, and we have to address that."
Animal laws aren't always enforceable, as evidenced by widespread noncompliance with the city's mandatory pet registration law. It requires owners under the age of 65 to pay a $7 fee for neutered pets and $30 for unaltered pets.
New laws simply aren't the answer to some animal problems, said Patti Strand, national director for the National Animal Interest Alliance, an organization that opposes government regulations that "unjustly restrict owners or ban breeds and species or unfairly limit the number of animals an owner can keep."
Ms. Strand questioned whether Dallas would have the resources to adequately enforce new or strengthened animal laws. If it doesn't, she said, "your laws aren't going to affect those people causing the most problems."
Ms. Strand further suggested the city consider other methods of reducing its pet population, such as robust trap/neuter/release programs aimed at feral animals that reproduce at will.
At their core, city ordinances are about compliance, and the vast majority of people voluntarily comply with them, which does help solve many problems, City Manager Mary Suhm said.
While Ms. Suhm noted that enforcement of any ordinance isn't always easy, "I'm glad we're looking at this issue because clearly, we have a problem. And we have to put down a lot of animals because of it. Nobody wants that."
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