Scout's Paw Tracks

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Show exempt from dangerous dog law

Reprinted from the Courier Journal

Show exempt from dangerous dog law
Event will be held on state grounds

By Sheldon S. Shafer
and Sara Cunningham
The Courier-Journal

Owners exhibiting their dogs at the Kentuckiana Cluster All Breed Dog Show in the Kentucky Exposition Center this week don’t have to worry that their animals could be seized because of the city’s new animal ordinance.  A county attorney says shows run by the Kentucky State Fair Board on state property are exempt.

And dogs brought into the city during the show or that get loose won’t be spayed or neutered, Louisville Metro Animal Services Director Dr. Gilles Meloche said last week.  But for some dog owners, this news has not changed their opinion that Metro Louisville is anti-canine.  “There are a lot of problems with the new rules and while that would help, it’s not enough,” said Sandi Stephenson, a dog owner from Chicago who says she won’t bring hers to the show this year. “There’s been a lot of confusion about what the rules are and what will happen. People just want to be safe and make sure their dogs are safe.”

The ordinance, signed into law Jan. 4, grew out of concern over pit bulls in late 2005, after a 2-year-old girl was killed by her family’s pet.  The ordinance requires all unaltered dogs be kept on 4-foot leashes.  The ordinance also gives animal control officers additional investigative powers and increases licensing fees for dogs.  It also limits the number of dogs people can keep outdoors on lots of less than 2 acres, and sets higher licensing fees for dogs and cats that have not been spayed or neutered.

Because of the ordinance, the Louisville Kennel Club Puppy Match canceled its event in January and the Dimes and Dollars Cat Club show backed out last December, said Amanda Storment, spokeswoman for the state fair board, which runs the Expo Center.  The loss of each of these shows was about $100,000 for the local economy, Storment said.  Fair board President Harold Workman said he hopes the changes will convince those groups to return.

The Collie Club of America put on hold its plan to book the Expo Center for its 2010 national show, worth about $500,000 to the community, Storment said.  Collie Club spokesman Mike Esch said in an e-mail Friday the club booked its convention on the West Coast because of the uncertainty about whether the ordinance would cover the fairgrounds and hotels.

Tim Tingle, treasurer of the Kentucky State Rabbit Breeders Association, said his group is considering holding its 2008 convention in Louisville. The rabbit breeders won’t decide until they can discuss how the animal-control ordinance would apply.  The convention would mean about $2 million for the local economy, said Storment.

Louisville Kennel Club spokeswoman Donna Herzig said the clarification of the law’s impact on dog shows eases concerns, although the club still opposes the law.  The Kentuckiana Cluster dog shows, scheduled Wednesday through Sunday, had been expected to draw about 10,000 people and generate nearly $3 million for the economy, Storment said.

Louisville Kennel Club spokeswoman Donna Herzig said entry numbers are the lowest they’ve been in 15 years.  Herzig said she and other organizers have received e-mails from people concerned about the ordinance’s spay and neuter provisions.

At a Metro Council Democratic caucus meeting Thursday, Assistant County Attorney Bill Warner advised council members that the city can’t regulate activity that is legal under state law and conducted by a state agency (the fair board) on state property (the Expo Center).  The council is reviewing the ordinance, and members say they will eventually consider major changes.  Council member Jim King, D-10th District, said the council plans to consider amending the ordinance as soon as possible so Animal Services “shall not alter any animal owned by someone who does not live in Jefferson County.”

Meloche said exhibitors feared their animals could be altered.  “That is a stretch from reality,” Meloche said. “It has never happened and never will happen.” King said “the way the ordinance reads,” if animal services impounds a unlicensed animal, “it is to be altered before being returned to the owner. But that won’t happen.”

Dog owner Stephenson said she will come for the shows next week, but plans to eat in Jeffersonville instead of Louisville.  “It will be my own little way to protest,” Stephenson said.