Page 1 of 330 The Monthly National Legislation Report 7/5/2010 ...

The Monthly National Legislation Reporthttp://mnlreport.typepad.com/Page 109 of 3307/5/2010clearer picture of what activities would go on in Aberdeen if the board approves a change in the zoning ordinance to allow a dog-training facility in an area zoned for heavy industrial. Zell saidhe particularly likes that K2 Solutions is contracting directly with the military, and he sees the potential to bring more military contracts to the area with this operation. He said he also likes thatK2 Solutions is a local company wanting to expand in Moore County. Both Liles and Zell see the project as a potential contributor to tax revenues with more people coming to the area andliving in Aberdeen for the training. The main question the board has to consider is whether or not a kennel, itself, will be a good fit in the heavy industrial zone. The board is especiallyconcerned about what types of kennels the amendment would allow because parts of Aberdeen's downtown are zoned heavy industrial. "Is the next kennel going to be as good as the onethey run?" Zell said. "It has to work for the town. That's our concern." If the board approves an amendment to the zoning ordinance, it would be narrowly tailored to allow a facility like the oneK2 Solutions is proposing, but it would also protect the downtown. K2 solutions wants to act quickly on the property because it is under contract with the U.S. Marine Corps to train 112Labrador retrievers for special operations by December. The company lost a lot of time on the project in its failed negotiations with Moore County over potential property in Vass. At its nextmeeting, the board will discuss the wording of the proposed text amendment.Bladen County – (10/8/09) - Bladen amends animal control ordinance - What happened: The board unanimously approved a request to amend the Bladen County Animal ControlOrdinance by deleting the spay-and-neuter requirement. Because the spay-and-neuter paperwork has posed a problem for rescue groups moving animals out of state for adoption, WayneStewart said in a memorandum to County Manager Greg Martin, the amendment would allow these organizations to pull animals free of charge. Stewart is director of the Bladen CountyHealth Department. - Why it matters: Stewart told the board that based on discussions with the Animal Control staff, it appeared that the requirement posed a detriment to animal adoption.Stewart said he had gone before the Animal Control Advisory Board in August when it decided to raise its flat adoption fee from $15 to $25 for citizens. The cost to spay or neuter a dog,Stewart said, varies from $45 to $85 in the surrounding area. Rescue groups often receive a discount. - What they said: Commissioner Margaret Lewis Moore voiced concerns that somerescue groups appear to be charging for the animals pulled from the county's Animal Control shelter. "Why would we not charge for the animals?" she asked. "The animals that we pull arenot the ones people usually adopt," said Krista Hansen of A Shelter Friend of Bladen County. "Often, they have mange and heartworms. You don't make money with these animals. We're init for the lifesaving."Cumberland County – (10/2/09) - Cumberland County commissioners will be asked Monday to include criminal penalties in an animal control ordinance after a recent incident frustrated lawenforcement officials. As a result of the incident, acting County Attorney Harvey W. Raynor III said sheriff's deputies and animal control officers discovered they cannot seize dangerousanimals without an owner's permission. Including criminal penalties in the ordinance, which was endorsed by two commissioners Thursday, would enable investigators to obtain warrants tonot only search private property but seize animals threatening public safety, Raynor said. Currently, animal services officers may get administrative warrants. But they cannot take animalswith those warrants. UPDATE: (10/4/09) - Cumberland commissioners expected to act on new dog rule. Cumberland County Board of Commissioners - When and where: 9 a.m. Monday(10/5/09) in Room 118 of the Cumberland County Courthouse. What to expect: The commissioners will consider amending an animal ordinance to permit seizure of dangerous dogs withoutan owner's permission. Why it matters: A group of northern Cumberland County residents say they were threatened by a neighbor's dog, but county officials say they couldn't impound theanimal under current rules. UPDATE: (10/5/09) - Cumberland County Commissioners passed an amendment to an ordinance Monday in an effort to protect citizens from dangerous dogs.Commissioners voted unanimously to support a misdemeanor penalty if owners refuse to surrender a dangerous dog. According to the amendment, a dangerous dog is one that has killed orinjured a person without being provoked, a dog that has been determined to be potentially dangerous, or a dog that is owned primarily for fighting. "If you have a dangerous dog situation orpotentially dangerous dog situation or even a vicious dog situation, you want to be able to take that dog into custody as quickly as possible to provide the public with a more safeenvironment," said Interim County Attorney Harvey Raynor. "What we had was a situation where we saw that there was a hole in our ordinance and that by putting this misdemeanor penaltyin, that would correct that and allow us to take a dog when the home owner or the dogs owner was not willing to surrender it," said Raynor. Director of Animal Control Scottie Harris says theamendment will allow animal control officers to get dangerous dogs off the streets faster, making Cumberland County a safer place to live."We're not forcing the issue or trying to chargepeople criminally. That's not our intent behind the ordinance. However, we needed a way to be able to go before the court system if an owner chose not to give us the right to the animal, thenwe still have a way to seize the animal," said Harris.Richmond County – (10/6/09) – Commissioner Dillman also questioned the possibility of revisiting the idea of a leash law in the county. “I keep getting calls from people who see dogswithout collars bothering children and adults,” Dillman said. Commissioner Thad Ussery said it’s too hard to enforce a leash law in the county because, “you have to have a little cooperationfrom the people, too.” The commissioners discussed that the county’s animal control officers will respond to calls of dogs running around without tags and collars and the county does have adangerous dog ordinance that says if anyone is bit by a dog, animal control will respond, and if the dog is deemed “dangerous” it will be put to sleep.Robinette added that it might be worth looking into specific dog bans like other county’s have for deer-hunting dogs and the like. “Developers need to have specific rules for their subdivisions,too,” Robinette said. They all stressed that until there are more specific laws on the books, the best way to keep people and animals safe is to keep dogs on a leash, but to also make surethe animals have a name tag and their rabies tag on the collar because if a dog is picked up by animal control and there’s no proof of a rabies vaccine, it could be put to sleep.OHIO(10/13/09) - As Nov. 3 approaches and the debate over Issue 2 escalates, Ohio's two largest humane societies and smaller ones, including Geauga Humane in rural Geauga County, todayannounced their opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment. They join the Ohio Farmers Union, organic food proponents and environmental groups opposing the planto create a Livestock Care Standards Board that would determine how billions of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep and goats are treated here. The Cleveland Animal Protective League, GeaugaHumane and Capital Area Humane serving Greater Columbus say Issue 2 would not be good for farm animals, as the 13-member board appointed by the governor and legislators wouldinclude just one humane officer. "County humane societies had no voice in this proposal and no representation during discussions about the role and composition of the proposedboard," said Cleveland APL Director Sharon Harvey. "As county humane societies that are empowered to appoint humane agents who enforce Ohio's animal protection laws, including theprotection of farm animals, we should have had a voice in the role and composition of this board."Columbus – (10/6/09) - Pet enthusiasts pushing for the regulation of puppy mills took their fight to the Ohio Statehouse Tuesday. Lawmakers listened on as supporters argued for Senate Bill95, which would establish license requirements and set standards of care for dog breeding kennels. DiFrischia said a total of 32 states have passed or have pending puppy mill legislation.Proponents of the legislative action showed video of injured dogs confined in cages as evidence that the unregulated industry of pet breeding needs rules. But State Senator Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) is concerned that the legislation contains excessive restrictions and fees that penalize good breeders. “The general framework of the bill I agree with, but the reason these billshave always failed previously is that the proponents go too far in the other direction,“ Seitz said. The bill’s sponsor, State Senator Jim Hughes (R-Columbus) said action is needed and hewelcomed input that would lead to a bill that passes into law.Columbus – (10/14/09) - A group seeking to ban dog auctions in Ohio has the green light to begin collecting petition signatures toward a goal of putting the issue before voters next year. TheOhio Ballot Board yesterday certified that the proposed "Ohio Dog Auction Act" contains only one proposed law, clearing the way for the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions to begincollecting the 120,683 valid signatures needed by the end of this year to have the legislature consider it. If the General Assembly fails to act within four months, the coalition then may collectan additional 120,683 signatures to get the issue on the November 2010 ballot. The proposed law would make it illegal for anyone to auction or raffle a dog in Ohio. It also would prohibitbringing dogs into the state for sale or trade that were acquired by auction or raffle elsewhere. The General Assembly has considered banning dog auctions as part of legislation to regulatecommercial dog breeders in Senate Bill 95 and House Bill 124. But O'Connor-Shaver said proponents of the legislation have watched it languish for four years and are "committed 110percent" to get the ban on dog auctions enacted themselves.Fremont – (10/16/09) - City hall was packed Thursday night to hear Fremont police Chief Tim Wiersma, Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates' Jean Keating and Sandusky County's deputy dogwarden Gina Halbisen debate pit bulls. Councilman James Melle, who is chairman of the laws, rules and ordinance committee, said before the meeting that the purpose was to gatherinformation before considering any legislation. At another meeting at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5, Ledy VanKavage, of the Best Friends Animal Society out of Illinois, will speak about pit bulls.Louis County – (10/23/09) - Two weeks after authorities seized 20 of her dogs, a Lewis County woman accused of running a filthy dog-breeding farm said she plans to reduce the number ofdogs on her property to about 50 — a two-thirds reduction. Hahn, 26, and Lewis County authorities have given conflicting accounts of just about every detail since the Oct. 7 seizure. Officialsdescribed a house crammed with 100 dogs and floors and furniture blanketed with feces, while Hahn disputes both of those claims.Hanson said Hahn has made no effort to retrieve the 19remaining dogs from the shelter. Hahn said nobody at the shelter will return her phone calls and she wants to reclaim two of the dogs, which she said are older and are family pets. Therecent seizure has brought attention to Lewis County’s breeder-friendly laws, which do not limit the number of dogs one person can possess.Those laws could change soon. A new state lawthat takes effect Jan. 1 will limit to 50 the number of dogs one person can have in their possession at any time. It also requires handlers to provide dogs with proper space, light and exercise.With this month’s seizure in mind, Lewis County commissioners are pushing for even stricter laws. They want the 50-dog limit to apply to a property rather than an individual. Four people liveat Hahn’s five-acre parcel, meaning that even when the new state law takes effect, Hahn could actually add to her dog population. “That’s a huge loophole right there, because they couldhave 200,” Hanson said.The county plans to hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed ordinance, but no date has been set.St. Marys – (10/20/09) - City Councilors next week will get their first look at an ordinance regarding the trapping of cats — feral and domestic — one that also could lead toward a tag systemfor the felines. Members of the St. Marys Safety Committee, as well as approximately a dozen and a half citizens — attended the meeting to discuss the issue of trapping cats. The issuesurfaced last week during a city council meeting when a resident approached councilors regarding the trapping of domestic cats that were then transported and released in the country. CityLaw Director Kraig Noble provided committee members with a memo detailing possible options for councilors to consider. Noble said during his research on the topic, he found few lawsspecifically addressing the issue of cats. Freewalt said he plans to work with city officials, Zink and St. Marys Police Chief Greg Foxhoven to come up with a proposal that he feels will benefitall parties. Safety-Service Director Tom Hitchcock said the measure, in its first form, will be presented to councilors Monday. “We’ll do our best effort to put an ordinance together,” Hitchcocksaid. Freewalt said the ordinance would be read three times, allowing the opportunity for public input. The mayor also said the ordinance could change from its initial form when, and if,