Opinion on new law re: pets

You can't have barn cats with this ordinance. That means there will be an explosion of mice and rats on farms.... and/or there will be an increase in the amount of poison used. Hmmm, that doesn't sound good or healthy for the environment.

It appears that it's illegal to have a livestock guardian dog in that county. That means that there are plenty of cute little animals who will lose their lives to predators. What will PETA do? Geesh!

You know, I keep seeing these commercials for dog food and they talk about being a pet parent. Ummm, I am a parent to my children. IMO, there's something not quite right with a human who has a non-human child.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

Orangehen, isn't this "just" a proposed ordinance? Contact your local legislators and voice your concerns. Get the Freeport kennel club involved (if they aren't already). Talk to any city or county or town officials who would be in trouble themselves due to having too many pets. This does sound like PETA is involved, under the table of course.

Existing laws should be able to deal with bad apples but of course that takes cooperation.

Good luck to you. BTW, my puppy Beans has a full older sister who would be affected by this ordinance.

Peg

I'm all in favour of animal/pet ordinances for towns, but not in the county. I live in a small town and last year the city council was considering passing a animal/pet ordinance that was pretty draconian. It included leashing cats, and not allowing farm animials, including poultry, except for 4H. Word got out and the next council meeting was standing room only with protesters. Proposed law was dropped quickly, and a committee formed of animal owners to draft a more reasonable ordinance. We do need an animal/ pet ordinance in town for those who hoard or go overboard with goats (25-40 on a city-sized lot, for example), but it needs to be reasonable. When I lived in the county, I would have opposed any attempt to regulate domestic pets, except puppy mills and hoarders.

What's wrong with puppy mills? They sure beat the stuffins out of the "free range" indiscriminate breeding that goes on now.

Hmmm.........an ordinance to "leash up" barn cats????? I'd like to see them try! Would be fun to watch someone try to catch a barn cat and put a leash on it............and still have some skin left!

In SF they were trying to make it illegal to buy or sell anything but tropical fish! http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-0...store-hamsters

4 animals do not make a puppy mill - so what makes a puppy mill? the breeding and selling of puppies, so if the goal is to stop puppy mills (whice I doubt) then tax the sale of puppies.
Lets call it what it really is, its a new revenue resource in a time when all levels of government are looking for new revenue sources.

Um no I don't think so because it doesn't specify if those are breeding animals or not. I am not a kennel but I have a whole pack of spayed and neutered and cats and dogs that have been dumped here over the years. Under that law the way it is written I would have to take half of them to the pound. How exactly is that helpful?

One dog that roams free is more trouble and more of a nuisance than 12 penned dogs.

That is stupid. That is why people move out in the country. I have sixdogs. Two cats. My MIL has 11cats and two dogs we all live real close. I,m NOT getting rid of mine!

I would be opposed to this. What next, rules about how many children you can have on your property?

The original intent may have been good (to ensure the animals were properly cared for w/adequate space), but as written the ordinance does nothing to assure that is what happens. Instead, many people will be fined, or have animals taken from them unnecessarily. "Three dogs, cats, or other domestic animals" does not say three dogs constitutes a kennel, or three cats constititues a kennel. It says "three animals" and could be interpreted that way by enforcement agencies. So if you had two dogs, a cat, and a bird, technically you could be required to apply for that kennel license.

Also the 'non-farm' is open to wide interpretation. What makes a farm? Crops? Beef production? A herd of sheep or horses? Do you have to make a living off it to be a farm? We were actually told by zoning (read: tax) officials that our 40 acres is not a farm because my dh is not full-time employed as a farmer, he is an engineer! Even though we have 20 acres in crops, 10 in woods, 5 in pasturage and a garden larger than most city lots, because our chief income is not from 'farming' our land is not a farm!!It was a 'farm' before we bought it, even though the previous owner did not get the majority of her income from it (she rented the land to another farmer, and had a non-farming career that supported her). But that was how it was listed on tax rolls before the change in ownership.

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Kris
http://thislittleplacehere.blogspot.com/

The dog part of it..
The past place I lived at,, out in the country side, one next door neighbor had 12 dogs and DH had a frank discussion about what would happen to said dogs if they ever got over our fence and into our livestock. She didn't like us but she was fairly good about it but it was annoying to hear dogs bark all the time.
Another neighbor couple of places down, had a whole lot of dogs, he would let room and needless to say, many got shot for killing livestock but he would just buy more and it would continue.
Also in that area.. people would dump dogs and they would pack up. Not good.

So I can see why I law like this would happen.

Here, haven't had a problem. We have a very large and active predator base and anything allowed to roam gets eaten, which is fine with me.

I live out in the country, I don't want to have to listen to someone's dog(s) bark non stop or have the shoot a dog because it is going after my animals because the owner can't be responsible and keep said dog/predator on their place..

Found out in VA, there are all kinds of rules about having animals, including no run in sheds, barns or what not with in 300' of the neighbors front door. Will take some getting used to and take twice as much time, to find a nice place I can have horse's, chickens and so on and not break some kind of rule.

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Shari

I agree!

Sure am glad I don't live where they pass such money making laws! We have 16 dogs, nine cats, five horses, five ducks, two chickens and two rabbits. Looking to get more animals!

Every one of our dogs and cats is spayed or neutered. There's no puppy making here! We spent our money on fencing in a three acre yard so our dogs would have room to roam without the worry of them wandering off and getting hurt by some yahoo with a gun or vehicle. We've had enough of that!

If we had to pay licensing fees, etc. it would take away from the money we use to feed and properly care for our animals. And for what? To line a local politician's pocket??? No thanks.

I'm all for stopping puppy mills, but that law isn't going to do that.

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

The law in the OP states it is for residential, or nonfarm. If you are zoned Ag it doesn't affect you.

See my above post. I am on 40 acres, but not zoned AG. So, this would apply to me and anyone else who is not zoned ag. Most rural properties out here are not zoned ag, as that is not profitable for the townships. Anytime a property changes hands it is subject to zoning change. Mine was ag before I bought it. We rent out 20 acres to the same farmer who farmed it (not original owner) before we bought it. But because it was changing hands, the officials decided that make 'ag' only apply to landowners who make at least 51 % of their income from that property. Everyone else gets zoned residential, whether they have 1 acre or 100. Which is a crock. Talk to the farmers in my neighborhood (by neighborhood we are talking 5+ square miles) and not one of them makes that much off their farm. If they don't have an off-farm job, their wife does.

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Kris
http://thislittleplacehere.blogspot.com/

Ditto...
I have half a dozen dogs, and as many cats, that I've saved from the needle... have rescued a lot more, and placed them with families. Whether I'm a puppy mill or hoarder is in one's view of puppy milling and hoarding... I've got several hundred acres for them to roam on, play, swim, whatever... the most joyful furbuddies are the ones that were due for a shot of pink juice at the end of the shift at the shelter. Ask them if there life is better than composting away in a landfill, and I think you know the answer.

Should I put these animals 'down' because of someone else's preconceptions? I can see problems with 'hoarders' where the dogs and cats never see sunshine... but we're all going swimming when I get through working this evening!

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

A couple of things-

I don't have a big problem with the ordinance, except that the numbers are pretty small. The animal conrtol count of six, is much more realisitic.

I DO have a problem with the current ordinance, having to pay $450 just to go before the zoning board, to request a "variance", to have more than three dogs and you are not running a kennel. Didn't tax dollars used to pay for zoning board meetings?

If you don't like the law, fight to change it. Other's in your community probably feel the same way. It's not always that hard to do at the local level.

Good luck.

Cuts down on bad breeders and puppy mills?

I have two dogs, an intact male and a spayed female, not breeding either (unless my male's breeder calls me back to borrow him per contract).

I have two cats, both altered.

I have five chinchillas, which I no longer breed or show.


THIS is a kennel?!

The OP is in Illinois. What gets designated ag may be different. I know in Michigan many ag properties have been zoned residential or commercial, but that doesn't mean you can't farm, just that you are also allowed to do other things with it. For assessing purposes, many ag and cut over properties have been moved to res because they are not being farmed but are used as hunting land or residential. How land is labeled will differ between states and between uses. Perhaps a better division would be acreage. In most communities in Michigan you can have livestock if you have five acres, in some it can be one acre.

The law, as written is confusing if you don't know how the zoning is determined.

Irresponsible on a city lot or irresponsible on 200 acres is still irresponsible. My mom has a distant neighbo who lets their dogs run loose. Mom shot one dog while it was attacking her rabbits (in their cages). When he came to her door all po'd because someone shot and killed his dog she ripped him a new one. Fast forward to a year later, the surviving original dog and a new dog are at Mom's place again. The original dog didn't make it home. This time the owner didn't come knocking.