No Dog Left Behind
By Jocelyn Geboy in Miscellaneous on Feb 8, 2007 4:47PM
A couple of years ago, Alderman Gene Schulter of the 47th ward (and Chairman of the License Committee) was made aware of some scummy kennel operators in his area and was disgusted by what he found going on at their operations (e.g., dogs without food and water). He headed up a task force of sorts to ensure that kennels, grooming and other dog day care facilities would be held to some sort of standard in how they were run and licensed.
Around the same time, talk was getting heated over Breed Specific Legislation (breed banning), which is usually aimed at one or two specific breeds thought by a community to be dangerous (e.g., pit bulls, dobermans, rottweilers). However, no dog organization considers this to be a good idea, including the American Kennel Club (AKC), The Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association, The Humane Society of the United States, or The Center for Disease Control. They all agree it's better to have legislation that demands responsible dog ownership and comes down hard on people who neglect and abuse dogs.
Back in July, Schulter proposed some ordinances -- an anti-tethering law, which mandates how long a dog can be left tied out unattended; specific requirements that kennels would have to follow to remain open; mandatory microchipping for all dogs; and putting fiscal responsibility on owners who are not responsible for their pets and let them roam about.
As seems to be the case in government, some back and forthing must have been done, cause Schulter backed down from the blanket microchip when the ordinance was brought back to the table Tuesday. However, it would still require facilities to have contact information for the owners of the dogs as well as a file for every dog there (with dog license and vaccinations). Each dog would have to have their own "individual enclosure," and there would have to be at least two staff members if the dogs would be mixing it up together.
The Sun-Times article doesn't say how he fared with the agenda, though. However, if you want to know how *your* pet will fare each day, The Weather Channel has a petcast, where you can plug in your pet's size and age and hair length and it will tell you the temperature and what the forecast is. Like ... bring your pet inside?!?!
Emmy via Bridgeport Seasoning