DC Alternative Proposal to Breed Ban

[Vicki]

DC Dog Coalition

Legislative Proposal


The District of Columbia Dog Coalition offers the following changes to the D.C. Code. These changes would reduce incidents of dogbites in the District by increasing fines and penalties, protecting public safety officers, and providing for more effective animal control. In summary, this proposed legislation:
1) Ensures competition for the award of the contract for animal control in the District of Columbia;
2) Gives animal control officers the power to issue citations;
3) Adds tethering and the keeping of ill-trained animals to the list of prohibited conduct;
4) Adds a number of felony offenses, such as for dogfighting, threatening, and the use of an animal to threaten a public safety officer.
5) Increases fines and penalties substantially for all violations.


1) Changes in Administration: The contract for D.C. animal control should be competitive and open to any organization, whether for profit or nonprofit, regardless of the date of its founding, which exhibits financial solvency and ability to train line employees in animal control:


6-1002. Animal Control Agency

6-1002 (a) The Mayor may contract, either by negotiation or by competitive bid, with a District of Columbia humane animal control organization to serve as the Animal Control Agency. The Mayor may delegate all or part of his authority under this chapter, including the issuance of notices of violations and citations, to the Animal Control Agency: Provided, that only a sworn member of the Metropolitan Police Department may serve a notice of violation with respect to 6-10008 outside the premises of the animal shelter.

2) Amendments to Prohibited Conduct - A leading cause of dogbites is the practice of chaining/tethering dogs, as this makes them both territorial and vulnerable. This is a great danger to children.

Penalties for other prohibited conduct, such as allowing a dog to run loose, under currently law are increased drastically, without time limits.

A prohibition against ill-trained and threatening dogs is introduced, with increased penalty.


6-1008 - Amendments to Prohibited Conduct - Tethering


- No person shall keep a dog tethered or chained to a stationary object;


6-1011. Penalty.

Each person who violates a provision of this chapter shall pay a fine not to exceed $25 $100 for the first violation, $50 $300 for the second violation occurring within a 24 month period and $100 for each subsequent violation occurring within a 24-month period.

JUMPING AND BARKING AT PEDESTRIANS:

- No person shall keep or harbor any dog or animal that frequently or habitually snarls and growls or jumps upon or threatens persons lawfully upon the public sidewalks, streets, alleys or public places of the city;

(Penalty - seize and impound, $500 fine)

3) Felony offenses: To best address the problem of dangerous dogs which threaten the public, police and other public servants, the following felony offenses are introduced: using a dog as a weapon, using a dog in the commission of a crime. using a dog to threaten a public safety officer, cruelty, and dogfighting.


DIRECTING DOG WITH MALICIOUS INTENT:
- No person having control or custody of any dog shall direct, encourage, cause, allow, or otherwise aid or assist any dog to threaten, charge at, intimidate, bite, harass, menace or attack any person within the District of Columbia;
(Penalty - felony, $5,000 and/or one year in jail)


USE OF DOG IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY:
- No person shall keep, maintain, control, or retain custody of any dog in conjunction with or for the purpose, whether in whole or in part, of aiding, abetting or conducting any illegal activity or committing any crime within the District of Columbia;
(Penalty - felony, $5,000 and/or one year in jail)


DIRECTING DOG WITH MALICIOUS INTENT TOWARD PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER:
- No person having control or custody of any dog shall direct, encourage, cause, or otherwise aid or assist any dog to threaten charge, intimidate, bite, harass, menace, or attack any public safety officer engaged in the conduct of his/her duties.
(Penalty - felony, $5,000 and/or one year in jail)


CRUELTY:

22-801 - Penalty for cruelty

Whoever voluntarily overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, chains, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills, or causes or procures to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, chained, cruelly beaten, mutilated or cruelly killed any animal, and whoever, having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, voluntarily inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the same, or unnecessarily fails to provide the same with proper food, drink, air, light, space, veterinary care, shelter or protection from the weather, shall for every such offense be punished by imprisonment in jail not exceeding 180 days, or by fine not exceeding $250, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Nothing in this paragraph of Section 22-801 shall be construed to require a showing that such offense be committed with malice or specific intent.
Whoever purposely, knowingly, or intentionally commits any of the acts or omissions listed in this section shall for each offense be charged with a felony and punished by imprisonment in jail not exceeding 5 years, or by fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.


DOGFIGHTING:

22-810 - Penalty for engaging in cockfighting or animal fighting.

Any person who sets on foot, instigates, promotes, carries on, or does any act, as assistant, umpire, or principle, attends or in any way engages in the furtherance of any fight between cocks, fowls, or other birds, or dogs, or bulls, bears, or other animals, premeditated by any persons owning or having custody of such birds or animals, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in jail not more than 180 days, or both. felony, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in jail of not more than 5 years, or both.

4) Dangerous Dogs: The following amendments identify non-vaccinated dogs as a threat to public safety. Since dog abusers do not vaccinate animals, this would provide a way to separate such owners from their dogs. Subsequent amendments simply codify and clarify administrative law in adjudicating dangerous dog cases.


Chapter 10A - Dangerous Dogs

6-1021.1. Definitions

Amendment:

iii) Does not have, attached to its collar, valid proof of a rabies vaccination.


Amendment:

No dog shall be deemed or declared to be a dangerous dog if the threat, wound, injury or damage was caused by any person who, at the time, was assaulting the owner of the dog; committing a willful trespass or tort upon the premises of the owner of the dog, or provoking, abusing, tormenting or assaulting the dog or can be shown to have repeatedly provoked, tormented or abused the dog at other times.
No animal which, at the time of the acts complained of, was responding to pain or injury, or was protecting itself, its kennel, its offspring, or its owner's property, shall be found to be a dangerous dog.
No dog shall be found to be a dangerous dog solely because it is a particular breed.


------------------

[Robert Hickey]

Vicki,

Please read my topic on recent breed banning. If you can help me in any way, I'll update you on the complete story.

Thanks-
Rob