After hearing literally hundreds of people speak for and against the proposed updates to city animal laws, the Dallas City Council voted 10-3 in favor of the changes.
The new ordinances include the following provisions (for more details, go to http://www.dallasanimaladvocates.org/):
- A charge of $70 per animal for breeders to obtain permits.
- A single house be limited to six cats and/or dogs. People owning more than a half-acre of land would be allowed eight - something not contained in earlier versions of the proposal. People who today own a greater number of animals could apply to the city for grandfathering, allowing them to retain their animals without penalty.
- Dogs and cats be spayed or neutered. But the ordinance would provide numerous exceptions to a previously proposed mandatory spay-neuter provision. Dogs and cats younger than 6 months old, a service animal or the property of a licensed breeder would be exempt from spaying or neutering regulations. A veterinarian may also certify that an animal shouldn't be spayed or neutered for health reasons, the briefing document states.
- The city could seize, then impound a dog suspected of causing bodily injury to a person until after a hearing to determine the dog's fate. Now, such dogs are quarantined for 10 days, then returned to their owners in many cases.
- Tethering unsupervised dogs to trees or poles be prohibited except "for a period no longer than necessary for the owner to complete a temporary task."
- Owners must provide at least 150 square feet of space and a "building or properly designed dog house" for a dog confined outdoors.
Dallas City has a dreadful pet overpopulation problem, as well as extensive evidence of people in certain areas tethering their dogs outdoors 24x7 with little to no shelter or protection. These changes are designed to start addressing the problem and hopefully reducing the number of animals being euthanised in the City's shelter.
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