NAIA Action Alert: December 19, 2006

The Louisville Metro Council will meet today, December 19, 2006 to discuss the fate of one of the worst pet ordinances ever considered for passage in the US. It’s imperative that when the council meets, they defeat this legislative nightmare once and for all.

If you live in the Louisville area and/or show at the Kentuckiana Cluster of dog shows, please drop everything today and email, fax or call the Louisville Metro Council at once, urging them to vote against this bill. Their contact information is listed at the end of this alert. If you’re a resident, contact your council member. If you live outside the area but attend shows in Louisville, use the contact information for the Metro Council or the mayor and ask that your concerns be shared with the entire council.

Flawed assumptions, dogma and fuzzy definitions assure that this legislation will not accomplish its stated goals. Instead it will compound problems, drive a wedge between responsible pet owners and their elected officials, create scofflaws, and encourage substandard breeding as responsible breeders (the only ones who obey the law) are forced to quit breeding.

The cities with the best track records for dealing with dangerous dog issues, lowering shelter impound and euthanasia rates; lowering nuisance complaints and dealing effectively with myriad other animal care and control problems are the cities that:

work with and gather input from diverse members of their community to solve animal control problems, often creating advisory board comprised of veterinarians, breeders, rescuers, humane societies, trainers, and other interested citizens.
provide animal control agencies with enough funding to enable them to achieve their mission; enforce leash laws, provide shelter, public education and spay/neuter programs, etc.
work with schools, kennel and cat clubs, humane societies and vet groups to develop low cost public education promoting responsible pet ownership throughout the community.
welcome the support of organizations doing rescue, dog training, feral cat work and others who want to help solve community animal control problems.
By contrast, the ordinance that Louisville is considering:

will cost the Louisville economy (hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc.) from $4 to $6 million dollars annually plus hundreds of thousands more in lost sales tax revenues, as dog shows leave for more supportive venues.
is not enforceable.
will have no effect on dangerous dog problems because breed specific laws do not work.
will have little or no effect on lowering the number of shelter animals or the number of euthanized shelter animals, numbers that have been steadily declining around the US for more than 30 years.
will create unnecessary animosity between pet owners and Metro government.
There is no way to fix this ordinance proposal. So, after writing numerous letters to the council over the course of the last 10 months urging amendments, we are writing now to urge the council to simply defeat it and start over. This one can't be put back together. It needs to be defeated.

Please make your contact now!!!

Louisville Metro Council 527 West Jefferson Street Louisville, Kentucky 40202 502-574-2003; FAX: 502-574-4420

Jerry Abramson, Mayor Phone: 502-574-2003 Email: mayor@louisvilleky.gov

Councilors:

Leonard Watkins
Phone: 502-574-1101
Email: leonard.watkins@louisvilleky.gov

Barbara Shanklin
Phone: 502-574-1102
Email: barbara.shanklin@louisvilleky.gov

Mary Woolridge
Phone: 502-574-1103
Email: mary.woolridge@louisvilleky.gov

David Tandy
Phone: 502-574-1104
Email: david.tandy@louisvilleky.gov

Cheri Bryant Hamilton
Phone: 502-574-1105
Email: cheri.hamilton@louisvilleky.gov

George Unseld
Phone: 502-574-1106 Email: george.unseld@louisvilleky.gov

Ken Fleming
Phone: 502-574-1107
Email: ken.fleming@louisvilleky.gov

Tom Owen
Phone: 502-574-1108
Email: tom.owen@louisvilleky.gov

Tina Ward-Pugh
Phone: 502-574-1109
Email: tina.ward-pugh@louisvilleky.gov

Jim King
Phone: 502-574-1110
Email: jim.king@louisvilleky.gov

Kevin Kramer
Phone: 502-574-1111
Email: kevin.kramer@louisvilleky.gov

Rick Blackwell
Phone: 502-574-1112
Email: rick.blackwell@louisvilleky.gov

Vicki Welch
Phone: 502-574-1113
Email: vicki.welch@louisvilleky.gov

Robert Henderson
Phone: 502-574-1114
Email: robert.henderson@louisvilleky.gov

George Melton
Phone: 502-574-1115
Email: george.melton@louisvilleky.gov

Kelly Downard
Phone: 502-574-1116
Email: kelly.downard@louisvilleky.gov

Glen Stuckel
Phone: 502-574-1117
Email: glen.stuckel@louisvilleky.gov

Julie Raque Adams
Phone: 502-574-1118
Email: julie.adams@louisvilleky.gov

Hal Heiner
Phone: 502-574-1119
Email: hal.heiner@louisvilleky.gov

Stuart Benson
Phone: 502-574-1120
Email: stuart.benson@louisvilleky.gov

Dan Johnson
Phone: 502-574-1121
Email: dan.johnson@louisvilleky.gov

Robin Engel
Phone: 502-574-1122
Email: robin.engel@louisvilleky.gov

James Peden
Phone: 502-574-1123
Email: james.peden@louisvilleky.gov

Madonna Flood
Phone: 502-574-1124
Email: madonna.flood@louisvilleky.gov

Ellen Call
Phone: 502-574-1126
Email: ellen.call@louisvilleky.gov

Doug Hawkins
Phone: 502-574-1125
Email: doug.hawkins@louisvilleky.gov

For more information please contact:
Louisville Kennel Club
Donnaherzig@hotmail.com