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

The Monthly National Legislation Reporthttp://mnlreport.typepad.com/Page 21 of 3307/5/2010• Every owner of a dog shall obtain a rabies vaccination for such animal. It shall be unlawful for any person to own or have a dog in the person’s possession, 6 months of age or older, whichhas not been vaccinated against rabies. Dogs kept in kennels and not allowed to run at large shall not be subject to these vaccination requirements.Proposed changes, as well as other recommendations, such as electric fences, dogs being able to physically move fences, adult on voice commands and a definition of a competent personas far as ownership, have been submitted to City Attorney William Sueppel for his review.LOUISIANANew Roads -Pointe Coupee Parish – (5/26/10) –Dog Ordinance Debated. Pointe Coupee Parish police jurors on Tuesday night rehashed a proposed animal-control ordinance that wouldplace greater restrictions on owners of large and potentially dangerous dog breeds. Under an Animal Control Committee proposal, German shepherds, Doberman pinschers, Rottweilers,boxers, Akitas, chow chows and pit bulls would be subject to the ordinance. The Police Jury decided to ask New Roads to adopt a similar animal-control ordinance because the proposedparish ordinance would not supersede city, town and village laws.St. Mary Parish – (4/27/10) – No more pit bulls in St. Mary’s Parish. Council passes ban. The St. Mary’s Parish Council has recently voted unanimously to ban pit bulls withinunincorporated areas of the parish. As reported in Franklin’s Daily Iberian, the ordinance makes it illegal to: own, possess, keep, exercise control over, maintain, harbor, transport or sell any pit bull...in the designated areas of St. Mary Parish. It also provides restrictions and stipulations to any ownercurrently owning the breed as of the bill’s starting date of July 1. Restrictions in the ordinance apply to people who currently own pit bulls and are grandfathered in to the regulations.Additional restrictions for current owners include:Pit bulls must be micro-chipped and have a license tag on their collar. Pit bulls must be kept in a secure pen with a concrete floor at least 2 1/2 inches thick and a fence at least 6 feethigh.Any owner who violates the ordinance is fined no less than $500 for a first offense and $300-500 for a second offense. After a third offense a $500 fee is charged and the pit bull isimpounded.St. Mary’s parish is not the only part of Louisiana that is serious about the dangers of dog bites. Controversial ordinances aside, someone injured by an animal anywhere in the state canbring an action against the owner of the animal that has hurt them under Art.2321 of Louisiana’s Civil Code.MAINE(5-27-10) – Baldacci signs bill that will crack down on animal cruelty. Each year the State of Maine receives hundreds of complaints against animal owners. Some folks say thathighlights the need for stronger animal cruelty laws. Today Governor Baldacci signed a bill that will do just that.The new law draws attention to the seriousness of the crime and allows the state to recover the costs of moving and caring for the animals involved by charging the accused. Supporters sayit also will help prevent repeat animal cruelty offenses and put a stop to those who see animals only as a product and fail to care for them.Lewiston – (5/23/10) – Board Mulls Banning Dogs from Thorncrag. If the Stewardship Committee at the Stanton Bird Club has its way, dogs would have to find a different park in whichto stretch their legs and chase the occasional chipmunk. The club owns and manages the 372-acre urban oasis off Montello Street. The committee voted unanimously in April to bar dogsfrom the trails. The club's board has taken that recommendation under advisement. The committee consulted with other land management groups before reaching its decision. Stanton BirdClub's Board of Directors is reviewing its Stewardship Committee's recommendation to ban dogs from Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary, and is expected to vote on it. Those wishing to offer inputare encouraged to mail their comments to the Stanton Bird Club, P.O. Box 3172, Lewiston, ME 04243.Portland – (5/4/10) - Portland Officials Consider Changes To Dog Laws Proposal Would Close Popular Areas To Dogs. Portland city leaders were working Tuesday to clarify wheredog owners can take their pets in town. The City Council's Health and Recreation Committee laid out a proposal for where dogs should be allowed on the Eastern Prom and where theyshould be allowed to run free. The committee will recommend to the full City Council that dogs no longer be allowed at all in the Eastern Cemetery or in the lawn between Portland House andFort Allen Park. However, officials said dogs would be allowed to run free, without a leash, within Fort Allen Park and on the nearby grassy knoll where folks gather to watch fireworks shows.The full City Council will get the final say on the plan.MARYLANDWorchester County – Snow Hill - (5/17/10) - Worcester Council to consider public nuisance ordinances. Commissioners to vote on fining owners of barking dogs,unruly grass and weeds. Two bills in front of the Worcester County Commissioners this week tackle public nuisances in an effort to keep the county's neighborhoods tidy and quiet. Afterpublic hearings on each initiative, the commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to fine owners of barking dogs and speed up the process for tall grass complaints. The barkingordinance would subject owners to as much as a $500 fine -- although likely much lower -- making it "unlawful to harbor a dog which barks or howls continuously disturbing the peacefulenjoyment of neighboring properties." This is defined in the bill as barking for more than 20 minutes at a time or more than three 20-second instances within an hour. Worcester CountyAnimal Control would be responsible for enforcing the law, which would not apply to dogs barking at trespassers on private property, those that are provoked or dogs involved in hunting.UPDATE: (5/20/10) – Time to Silence Barking Dogs. Even the contrived "barking" of a resident who attended Wednesday's Worcester County Commissioners meeting wasn't enough toget a barking-dog ordinance enacted, but it was a split vote at 4-3. The legislation being considered would have made it illegal for a dog or group of dogs to be allowed to bark "nearlyuninterrupted" for more than an hour in "such a manner as to annoy, disturb or interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of neighboring properties." Commissioner Virgil Shockley, who along withthree other commissioners voted no, said, "At what point do you start legislating cats and frogs and everything else?"MASSACHUSETTSAndover - residents want to enact a pit bull ban but local animal rights lawyers and a veterinarian argue breed-specific laws are not the answer. Board of Selectmen can ban a dog if it's anuisance," says Town Clerk Randy Hanson. But a ban of an entire type of dog would require a change of the town's dog bylaw.Middlesex County – (5/14/10) – Area communities look into adopting spay/neuter ordinance. One cat can produce up to 420,000 offspring in seven years. But local animal activists arehoping to slow down that number with a proposed ordinance requiring pet owners to pay a fee for any animal not spayed or neutered. In November, members of animal rescue organizationKitty Connection Inc., which serves area communities including Stoneham, came before the city of Medford requesting councilors take a look at adding a requirement of a breeder’s licensefor animal owners. The language of the proposed breeder’s license calls for owners who willingly decide not to spay or neuter an animal to pay $60 for each cat and dog. Additionally, thelicense would require a proof of rabies immunization document and need to be renewed annually as long as the animal(s) in question are unaltered. The proposal goes on to say that anyperson in violation of the ordinance would be charged a $50 fine in addition to paying the fee for the breeder’s license. The fine, adds the language, would be waived if the owner produces acertificate of spay/neuter within 30 days of receiving the fine.MICHIGANEast Lansing – (5/24/10) - City Council to discuss dog laws. A prominent new city sculpture and more extensive dog laws are on the agenda for Tuesday night’s East Lansing CityCouncil work session. The City Council will discuss the issue of dog laws after two loose dogs attacked and killed a neighbor’s pet dog, about a month ago Loomis said. The owner of thedeceased dog requested the city look into the laws regarding dogs. The council then forwarded the request to the city attorney, who found most laws already are established at a state andcounty level, Assistant City Attorney Tom Yeadon said. The discussion will be the city’s first regarding dog laws, but likely will lead to some new city level laws, Yeadon said. “We looked intovarious situations and this is very preliminary and to see what’s out there,” he said. “But it’s likely the city will adopt duplicate laws or expand on the ones that already exist.”Mundy Township – (5/14/10) - Mundy Township planning board denies plans for off-leash dog park. The township’s Planning Commission decided last week to curb designs for a