Please go to site for internal links
https://www.akc.org/legislative-alerts/fort-smith-ar-urgent-500-per-pet-annual-breeding-license-approved-take-action-now-repeal/
Dear club members, breeders, dog owners, and future dog owners,
Please share this information with dog owners and breeders in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Immediate action is needed.
Responsible dog and cat breeders-and citizens of Fort Smith who wish to obtain
dogs and cats from local breeders in the future-are urged to immediately
contact the Fort Smith Board of Directors and ask that recently-enacted breeder
licensing requirements be stricken from law. This must be communicated to
Board members prior to the next Board meeting on August 20.
To review, on August 6, 2019 the Fort Smith Board of Directors passed a law
that, among other provisions, requires:
• Every person who breeds a dog or cat must obtain breeder a license
for every animal bred at a fee of $500 per animal, per year. Additional
requirements and costs apply.
• All dogs and cats in the city must carry two forms of identification.
A microchip plus a tag or other form of ID are required.
• All dogs and cats must be licensed. The annual fee is $60 per year
for an unaltered animal and $10 for an altered animal.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The Board discussed changing the requirements for the
altered pet license, reducing certain penalties for owners of altered pets, and
other changes to the ordinance. Accordingly, the Board has indicated that it
intends to repeal and replace the recently-enacted law at its meeting on August
20, 2019. Please note, there was no action regarding changing or eliminating
the breeder licensing requirement.
This provides a small opportunity for responsible breeders and pet owners in
Fort Smith to contact their elected officials and ask that breeder licensing
requirements be stricken.
Click here to view a video of the August 6 Board meeting. Discussion and
voting on the animal ordinance began at approximately 03:30 in the video. It
was followed by discussion and voting on a resolution to approve a contract
with a corporation that will provide animal impoundment services at taxpayer
expense. You can also view discussion of these issues that took place during a
Study Session held on 8/13/19, beginning at approximately 15:00 in the Study
Session video. During both the Board meeting and the Study Session, additional
legislation referred to as a "Phase 2" ordinance was discussed. This will
include MANDATORY spaying/neutering.
Without immediate action by responsible breeders, not only will the breeder
licensing law remain in effect, there will be continued efforts to ban the
ownership of unaltered pets in the city.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Fort Smith residents who object to provisions of the new law are urged to
IMMEDIATELY contact their elected officials, politely express concerns, and ask
that problematic sections be stricken. Click here for Board of Directors
contact information.
George B. McGill, Mayor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Keith Lau, Keith.Lau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
André Good, Andre.Good@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lavon Morton, Lavon.Morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
George Catsavis, George.Catsavis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Robyn Dawson, Robyn.Dawson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kevin Settle, Kevin.Settle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Neal Martin, Neal.Martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Attend the Board of Directors meeting and express your concerns:
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
6:00 p.m.
Fort Smith Public Schools Service Center, 3205 Jenny Lind Road, Building B
Talking points:
• During the 8/6 Board meeting, Ms. Gaevon Hoover, who represented the
animal impoundment contractor, stated that animal intakes had increased due to
a tornado, a 500-year flood, and fireworks. None of these situations are
attributable to local dog breeders.
• Mr. Jesse Fenwick spoke in support of trap, neuter, and release
protocols to reduce feral cats in the city. A feral cat population is not
attributable to local dog breeders.
• A statement by Brenda Altman, who represented the animal impoundment
contractor, underscores that local purebred dog breeders are not the source of
shelter intakes. When asked the amounts of adoption fees that will be charged
by the animal sheltering contractor, she replied, "If we got a purebred, which
is not going to happen, $200, or $30-50 depending on the animal."
Click here to read AKC's previous alert on this legislation.
For questions or additional information, please contact doglaw@xxxxxxx or call
919-816-3720.
Stormy Hope
LLARTC
NAIATrust, Trustee
NAIATrust-CA on Facebook!
GSDCA Legislative Liaison to AKC
California Responsible Pet
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