Plaino TX - dog law vote tonight - Page 1

I will briefly give an overview of some of the items in the proposed
legislation that will make you faint.

1. All puppies and kittens four months of ago or older are required
by law to be sterilized, micro-chipped and registered. NO exceptions.
There are no permits, as such available.

2. You can apply to be a commercial breeder, but those permits will
NOT under ANY circumstances, be issued for residentially- zoned areas,
since that would be in violation of code. If you wish to breed, you
will need to acquire a business and obtain a license to breed in a
commercially- zoned area. Actually, with a commercial license, you can
operate anywhere BUT a residential area.

3. There is a very narrow definition of non-commercial breeder,
meaning those who could legally breed out of their home. They must
own four or fewer dogs, and can produce one litter per year. You
would need to place your puppies prior to the age of four months, or
you would be required to sterilize them before sale.

4. If you are a pet owner who wishes to access a pet that is required
to be intact, if you live in Plano you must purchase that pet prior to
it's four month birthday. Only owners that can prove ownership prior
to that age are legally allowed to keep the animal intact.

5. Any animal that transfers ownership, regardless of whether it is
for compensation, or for placement at no cost...if over the age of
four months...MUST be sterilized, micro-chipped and registered. We
are trying t o determine what happens to animals that change hands more
than once, in terms of whether they must be micro-chipped EACH time
ownership changes. And whether rescues will be required to microchip
as a condition of pulling animals, and then whether that animal
requires micro-chipping again when placed.

This effectively makes Plano the first municipality to consider
enacting true MANDATORY spay/neuter. There are virtually no
exceptions, except for animals purchased before the age of four months.

New restrictions on care include:

No feces may be deposited and remain on any property, whether public
or private. Feces must be cleaned up immediately, and disposed of
immediately and properly (that is also defined as well...), as to not
be a nuisance or health concern to neighbors.

It is illegal to be in possession of a dog (public, on a leash,
without visible proof that you have materials to pick up after your pet.

All animals must be maintained in ambient temperatures between 60 and
79 degrees. This should make for some interesting applications to
agility trials, hunt tests and other activities that take place
outside over periods of hours or days. It will also make you a
criminal if you have a "cold" room for your dog. Take note, nordic
fanciers, or long-haired (dog or cat) fanciers. Nothing below 60 degrees.

Dogs may not ride unrestrained in a vehicle. This applies far beyond
the "dog in the bed of the truck" (which by the way, is already
illegal by state statute...) but means that no animal may be
transported loose, where it is subject to being thrown about in, or
thrown out of, the vehicle. This means crates in cars. Harnesses
that connect to the seat are probably also acceptable. But no loose
dogs. And certainly no dogs hanging their heads out windows. That's
now going to be criminal behavior.

There are 56 pages of this stuff folks. This is just the stuff I find
make me faint, just thinking about t hem. I invite you to visit the
city website (provided in an earlier e-mail...) to peruse the new