At tonight’s Reading City County meeting, an ordinance which had been introduced by the Animal Control Board has amended said ordinance to limit the number of cats and dogs are allowed in each household to six. This includes outside pets as well.
You can view the meeting at this site. The comments concerning the pet limit ordinance begin at 17 minutes and continues to approximately the 28 minute mark.
http://readingpa.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=65
Here is the amended ordinance:
BILL NO. 2010
AN ORDINANCE
No more than a total of six (6) dogs and cats shall be kept in any residential dwelling unless the City of Reading or its agent(s) finds that keeping more than six (6) dogs and cats is not a threat to the public’s health, safety and welfare regarding sanitation, creation of a public nuisance or threatening to the health of persons living in the dwelling. The provisions of this part shall also apply to dogs and cats kept in an enclosure outside the dwelling.
If the City of Reading or its agent(s) finds that a nuisance, public health or quality of life violation exists, the City of Reading or its agent(s) shall order the removal of all or a portion of the animals harbored at the residential dwelling, pursuant to Section 2-114 contained herein.
The decision of the City or its agent(s) may be appealed to the Animal Control Board by filing a written request with the City Clerk’s Office within ten (10) days after enforcement notice is dated. The Animal Control Board shall hold the appeal hearing within 30 days of the date that the notice is filed with the City Clerk’s Office. Animal Control Board shall issue their written decision to the appellant within three days of the hearing.
If the Animal Control Board orders the reduction or elimination of animals at a residential dwelling, the City’s animal control agent shall carry out the order within three (3) days.
Violations of this part shall be subject to the penalties specified in Section 2-121 set out herein.
SECTION 2. REPEALER. All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent herewith are herby repealed.
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall become effective ten (10) days after its adoption, in accordance with Section 221 of the City of Reading Home Rule Charter.AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF READING AMENDING THE ANIMAL CONTROL ORDINANCE BY LIMITING THE NUMBER OF CATS AND DOGS PER HOUSEHOLD.
Whereas; last year, when considering an amendment to the Animal Control Ordinance, City Council referred the issue concerning the limitation on the number of pets per household to the Legislative Aide Committee; and
Whereas; the Legislative Aide Committee found that several municipalities inside and outside Berks County have such limitations in effect to protect the public health and welfare of all residents.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF READING HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Amending Section 2-105 of the Animal Control Ordinance by adding the following language:
§2-105. Caring for Animals.
Section 1. See PA Crimes Code 18 Pa.C.S. §5511 – Cruelty to Animals.
I find the following points most disturbing with this ordinance:
1. The agency to follow through with this ordinance if adopted will be the Animal Rescue League. The League is already responsible for checking on animals that cause nuisances or public safety issues including santitation problems in the city of Reading. Why is an ordinance needed when this is part of their job?
2. The Animal Rescue League may remove any of your pets if they believe you are violating this ordinance. You may appeal to the Animal Control Board within 10 days. But, wait…the President of the Animal Control Board, Barrie Pease, is also the Board President of the ARL. I see that as a conflict of interest and don’t see how this can be constitutionally sound. If this should pass, this will allow for further ordinances where the ARL can profit. There are penalties involved if you are found in violation of this ordinance and the ARL will receive a percentage of these penalties.
3. How will this affect many people who supply foster homes to animals to different animal rescue organizations including the ARL? Without these foster homes, many animals could end up on the street or back at the shelter where their chances of survival are very slim. Foster homes play a vital part in finding permanent homes for pets who otherwise would die.
4. How will this ordinance possibly be enforced? The Animal Rescue League has the contract for animal control services for the city of Reading plus the entire county. In an article in last week’s Reading Eagle, it was stated an injured hawk was found in the city and the ARL was called to assist to rescue it. They couldn’t assist because they were busy attending to other business. And rightly so. They didn’t have the manpower to assist. How will have the manpower to go door to door to see how many pets each home has in Reading when they are clearly understaffed and overwhelmed as Executive Director, Harry Brown, stated in another article in last week’s Reading Eagle?
Brown said their donations are down significantly and the workers are working for free at times to help the animals. So I ask, who will go door to door to find how many pets you have? How will find the time to do this plus tend to all of the animal complaints in the county?
These are valid arguments which I hope city council seriously considers before making a decision that could do irrevocable damage to the many pet owners who are truly responsible.
I, for one, don’t ever want to be told how many pets I am allowed to have. What’s the next step, telling me how many children I am allowed to have? Where do we live, China?
Bottomline- do pet limit ordinances work and is this ordinance constitutionally sound? The answer to both is NO. Check out Animal Law Coalition’s site for their explanation on pet limit ordinances and why they don’t work.
Your thoughts?