Thursday, July 22, 2010

Dog (and Cat) Days Are Here

"The Director of Public Affairs and Safety shall, promptly after February 1
of each year, cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored
within the City limits and shall report on or before May 1 of each year, to the
License Bureau, the Health Officer and to the State Department of Health
the result thereof, setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses
of persons owning, keeping or harboring such dogs; the number of licensed
dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person, together with the registration
numbers of each dog; and, the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or
harbored by each person, together with a complete description of each
unlicensed dog. "

The language above is from the city's Municipal Code. It is of interest because the city is now proposing a 2010 census of all dogs and cats. Many years have elapsed since there was an animal census. The Health Division has long since been transferred out of Public Affairs & Safety to Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services. The cost of visiting each of the city's 15,000-plus households and processing the licenses is not known.

A notice about the impending canvass is posted on the city's web site. Click here to see it.

--Bernice

5 comments:

  1. I no longer take walks with my children without my husband present because on several occasions we have come across wandering dogs or owners who refuse to put their dogs on a leash because "they don't bite".

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  2. Interestingly, the annual census is actually required by state law.

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  3. The leash laws are not enforced, and dog owners are not responsible. I have heard stories about dogs who "don't bite", chasing and biting people out for a walk. This is a quality of life issue - and must be addressed.

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  4. And the city has eliminated its animal control personnel. Smart (not)!

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  5. On a daily basis we watch 6 different dog owners, NOT from our street NOT clean up after their dogs. In addition they let their dogs dig up the home owners landscaping and I don't mean grass. It's really a basic common courtesy to not 'dump' on others. We do have one neighbor who dumps in the street at the curb and cleans up. They way it shoud be. Wil

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