Schenectady County NY - Vicious Dog Law

[HKgnnr]

Hello all - I'm the owner of two beautiful dogs, a pure bred Rottie and a Rottie/Blue Tick Hound mix

I've been a responsible owner for over two years of these fine dogs, have continued to train them properly and have a secure location behind a 6' high stockade fence in which they play.

But thats not 'enough' according to the Schenectady County Legislature which has passed a law which is outlined as follows per the news report:

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County passes law on dangerous dogs
Municipalities under pressure to put restrictions on pit bulls, other breeds
By ANDREA BAKER
Gazette Reporter

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SCHENECTADY - County legislators Tuesday passed a law requiring municipalities to have an ordinance protecting people from dangerous dogs.
The law requires the county's towns to adopt rules mandating that dog owners take out a $5,000 bond on hazardous dogs, keep them confined and agree to put them down if they injure anyone.

Hazardous can be defined by the municipality, but it must include the terrier breed known as pit bulls, said Robert Farley, R-Glenville, who proposed the legislation.

Several children and adults have been injured by dogs of that breed over the past year in the city, and there have been arrests of individuals who either train such dogs to fight or let them run loose.

If the localities do not pass the ordinance, the county will not re-distribute any dog licensing fees it receives, according to the ordinance.

"We cannot have these dogs roaming the streets and having access to children," Farley said.

Municipalities are required to give a certain percent of their projected revenue from dog-license sales as an insurance, said George Davidson, county finance director. If the county does not use the money, officials refund the municipalities a portion of their shares at the end of the year. This year that amount was $6,439.

Nine legislators voted in favor of the law while five voted against it. One legislator was absent.

Those who voted against the law, including Kent Gray, D-Rotterdam and Michael Kirvin, D-Rotterdam, said they preferred to discuss the law with town supervisors before requiring them to do anything. Both legislators stressed, however, that they were concerned about children being bitten and felt something should be done about it.

Karen Johnson, D-Schenectady, said she was not sure municipalities had the authority to single out a breed of dogs. She also voted against the proposal.

The Schenectady City Council is considering passing a law requiring stricter control of vicious dogs but was told they could not legally single out breeds. To get around the issue, the city's corporation counsel suggested they place requirements on the dogs by weight.

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My dogs do not 'run free' nor do they 'scare' my 12 year old daughter and her friends. My family and I do not even live within the City of Schenectady, but in a small community well outside of the city proper but within the County. But as a result of irresponsible ownership within the worse sections of the City of Schenectady, I will have to be subjected to this.

I am so livid right now - there was no 'public discussion' on the matter, and after a Rottie was attacked by two pitbulls earlier this week in the City, this draconian push was underway and quietly passed by the County Legislature.

We have reached a whole new level of stupidity - "Both legislators stressed, however, that they were concerned about children being bitten and felt something should be done about it."

Suffice to say, another attempt at a 'knee jerk' reaction to a problem that WONT happen with my dogs.

[samanthac]

From the ADOA website:

New York State:

The New York State Legislature during this legislative session finally passed a revision to the dangerous dog section of our dog law. This revision includes a preemption clause which prohibits any municipality in New York State from passing a breed specific law. Governor Pataki signed the bill into law on September 3, 1997. We are now the 12th state to have such a law.

The twelve states that have preemption clauses are: California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

In spite of these state laws, however, we are finding that cities, towns and villages are proposing and/or passing breed specific legislation even when they know that their state law prohibits such legislation.

I'd contact the ADOA (American Dog Owners Association) www.adoa.org and the AKC www.akc.org. These two groups are here to help protect us from legislation like this!!

HTH!

[HKgnnr]

Thank you SO MUCH! I've fired off letters to both organizations per your recommendation.

I refuse to allow either my dogs or I to go quietly!

[samanthac]

It absolutely amazes me the number of dog owners that do not know about the ADOA or the AKC BSL-legislation task forces. ADOA is an absolutely invaluable tool in the fight against BSL.

Also, Jan Cooper, I call her the mother of all Rottweiler owners, is an invaluable source of anti-BSL info. In addition, she also keeps an amazingly up-to-date list of insurance companies that do/do not accept Rottweilers. You can contact her at jan4rott@rott-n-chatter.com

Also, did you know it is illegal in 11 states to deny insurance/drop insurance based on the breed of dog you have? And guess what PA and NY are two of them. :)

[HKgnnr]

Thank you again Samantha. Yes, I'm guilty of not knowing much about the resources available to combat this type of legislation against responsible owners.

Those links have now been bookmarked.

As for what else I'm doing: I've flooded the local news agencies(tv and print) with the newfound info you've provided demanding that they confront the Schenectady County parties responsible. I'll be speaking with fellow owners later today to 'rally the troops' as well.

Short of standing outside the bill drafters home with a sign protesting his very existance, I'm doing everything I can.

Well, back to the front I go!

[HKgnnr]

Alright!

Received my first email response from a local news station reporter - seems we've got them backpeddling now.

"As it turns out, it wasn't exactly a law passed by the county Legislature. The county cannot force municipalities to pass laws. Rather, the county legislators approved financial incentives to municipalities that pass their own dangerous dog ordinances."

http://www.msnbc.com/local/wnyt/m263180.asp

Next step is keep on the offensive and shed some light on the strong arm financial tactics regarding the 'incentives' to the local municipalities.

"Nevermind the dog, beware of owner"

:D

[toobad]

Hello, I am new here and this is my first post. I too live in Schenectady County ( Niskayuna ) and I think the new law stinks. I called town supervisor and he told me not to worry about the new law. He said It won't last long and that they wrote it wrong and he dosn't think it's fair at all. It isn't the dogs here in Schenectady at fault it's the animals that own them. I do however want to get some insurance on my two dogs in case of a bite. Does anyone here know where I might find insurance like this ? I have two Rottweilers ( male and female ) and I'm thinking better safe than sorry.

[Major]

Originally posted by toobad
I do however want to get some insurance on my two dogs in case of a bite. Does anyone here know where I might find insurance like this ? I have two Rottweilers ( male and female ) and I'm thinking better safe than sorry.

Perhaps you should start a thread of your own in General info. This thread is talking about "Vicious Dog Law" in NY.

[toobad]

Yes I am new but I can read. I know this thread is about the dog law. I live here in Schenectady NY. I only asked about the insurance (here) because someone else from this area may have gotten insurance when they heard about our new law. I am not trying to hijack this thread but it is MY town the law was passed in. Sorry

[nynewbie]

I got a letter in December from Sen. Pat McGee about homeowners and breed bans. The important point in this letter I think would apply here is that a dog (individually) would need to be "designated as a dangerous dog according to section 121 of the Agriculture and Markets Law". I would check into that and let your county legislators know that there is already a law in place which covers individually a dog deemed "dangerous dog", and why are they trying to create county legislation, when there is already state legislation. If you want a copy of the letter, pm me and I can email it to you.

[toobad]

Thanks for offering the letter. I can not PM you. I get a message that says I do not have permission to access this page. There have been a LOT of dogbites here in the past couple of months. Schenectady Co. passed the law to try and make people think they will be safer but my town supervisor told me to ignore the law because it would never hold up in court. Thanks for the offer.