[ SHOWGSD-L ] Dog wardens will be knocking on Lehigh County doors
- From: RihadinK9@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:24:22 EST
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b6_5doglawfeb13,0,105797.story
February 13, 2006
From The Morning Call
Dog wardens will be knocking on Lehigh County doors
The state officers will check area for pet licenses, rabies shots.
By Dan Hartzell
Of The Morning Call
You got a 2006 dog license for that mutt, Mr. Pet Owner? Well do ya,
punk?
OK, Detective Harry Callahan won't be banging on the doors of law-
abiding Pennsylvanians to make sure Fido has an up-to-date license.
But your friendly state dog enforcement officer might drop by, more
likely opting for a polite knock and a manner to match.
Door-to-door ''canvassing'' to check for dog licenses and rabies
protection has been used as an enforcement tool for licensing and
rabies inoculation requirements for about a decade, according to
Mary Bender, director of the state Bureau of Dog Law.
A news release from Lehigh County published in The Morning Call Feb.
4 noted that ''Lehigh County animal control officers will soon begin
a door-to-door review to ensure compliance with [dog] licensing
laws.''
The officers are Pennsylvania dog wardens, and are employees of the
state, said county Fiscal Director Brian L. Kahler, noting the
release was based on standard phrasing repeated each year.
The ''soon'' part might be a bit misleading.
Lehigh County dog warden Richard Martrich said last week that he and
other wardens from the region will conduct canvassing this year,
though a schedule has not been set. The target areas for the surveys
vary from year to year, he said.
State Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Stephanie Meyers said
canvassing often is done in response to complaints about dogs
running loose or other problems, targeting specific homes or
neighborhoods cited in the calls.
But some wardens also do random spot-check canvassing, Meyers said.
Dog wardens generally are assigned to each county, with a few
serving several counties. Currently 53 wardens serve 66 counties,
excluding Philadelphia, which operates its own licensing system, she
said.
Meyers said door-to-door checks are authorized by state law, and
they have proved effective, though she could provide no statistics
directly relating canvassing to greater compliance.
A 1996 state law indicates that dog wardens are to be considered
police officers for the purpose of enforcing the law and its
regulations. It also gives wardens the right to ''enter upon the
premises of any persons for the purpose of investigation'' of dog
law provisions, though to enter the interior of a home or other
building, the owner's permission or a search warrant is required.
''We do not go into people's homes'' to check for dog licenses,
Bender said. Rather, people refusing to provide a license or other
information can be cited for violating the law, she said.
That's nice to know, said Diane Petku of Upper Macungie Township,
who was a little spooked by the small newspaper article warning of
door-to-door checks.
''I'm not disagreeing â?¦ that all dogs should be licensed'' and up-to-
date on shots, Petku said, adding that she keeps her own dog in
compliance. ''It just gives me a Big Brother feeling'' that
government agencies resort to ''scaring people into doing things''
with threats of systematic searches.
Martrich said he has used canvassing as an enforcement tool since
1997, and that generally, residents are receptive to the message
that he and other dog wardens offer: that acquiring dog licenses,
and particularly up-to-date rabies inoculations, are important
safety and health priorities for the public.
''Some people feel we're inconveniencing them,'' he said, ''but a
lot of people are actually glad we stopped'' and happy to know the
dog law is being enforced, he said.
A lost dog with a license also is more likely to be returned to its
owner, and must be kept in a shelter longer â?? five days, as opposed
to 48 hours for an unlicensed animal â?? before it can be killed,
according to the law.
Martrich said he doesn't compile statistics on the number of pet
owners who fail to secure licenses and inoculations, but he believes
the canvassing is effective.
Franklin County dog warden Georgia Martin said she lists the times
and places of her canvass operations in advance in the news media,
yet still finds a high degree of Dog Law noncompliance.
Of the complaint cases she investigates â?? calls to her office about
dogs running at large, for instance â?? the animals' owners do not
possess the required license or the up-to-date rabies shots about 70
percent of the time, she estimated.
And about half the people visited during the random canvasses are
found to be delinquent, despite the fact the events are publicly
advertised in advance, Martin said.
Eight dog wardens from the Bucks County region conducted a major
canvass in June 2001, prompted by the mauling that month of a 5-year-
old boy in Richland Township. Despite that enforcement having been
announced in advance in the news media, officers issued 174
citations over a three-day period for lack of licenses or rabies
vaccinations.
''It's ridiculous'' how many people fail to purchase dog licenses,
Martin said.
Dog tags cost $6 to $8 per year, or $30 to $50 for the animal's
lifetime. First-time fines for the summary offense of failing to
have one can range as high as $300, and often the $25 minimum fine
reaches the $75 range with court costs added, Martin said.
With eight years' experience as a dog warden, Martin makes an
educated guess that only about half the dogs in Franklin County have
the required licenses and rabies vaccinations.
''We sold 17,000 licenses in Franklin County last year,'' she
said. ''I feel we should be double that.'' The county, on the
Maryland border and home to Chambersburg, has about 135,000
residents.
Martin said she encounters few problems when she questions residents
about their dog licenses. ''I approach people with respect,'' and
usually gets the same in return, she said, noting, ''Sometimes
people get a little irate.''
Martin, who wears a bullet-proof vest while canvassing, selects only
houses with signs of dog presence â?? a dog house in the yard, for
example â?? rather than knocking on every door.
Martrich said he generally tries to pick houses with dogs, but on
occasion conducts systematic checks of every home on a particular
street, or every other home.
Bender could not say how many dog wardens statewide conduct random
canvassing. But she said the bureau receives few complaints from
residents who have been subjected to the checks.
''Most neighborhoods are glad to see [the wardens],'' she said.
Often wardens will issue a warning and allow people to secure a
license within a certain period of time, Bender said.
Franklin County's Martin, however, issues citations on the spot, in
part because she advertises her canvasses about two weeks in advance
and considers that to be warning enough.
Bender said the chief reason for the canvassing is to improve
compliance with the law, which protects public safety by helping to
identify problem dogs â?? the idea being to control them before they
hurt someone or damage property. Subsequent to any injury or
property damage, the licensing process can help ensure that the
animals' owners are held responsible, she said.
Bender said the canvassing also involves the collection of fines,
which provides the operating revenue for the bureau. The sale of
about 940,000 dog licenses statewide generated nearly $5.3 million
for the agency last year.
''It has been successful,'' Meyers said of the canvass program. ''We
always increase the license sales.''
Just the prospect of dog wardens going door-to-door can spur a
flurry of license sales, said Orlando Aguirre of the Lehigh County
Humane Society, a nonprofit agency with no direct link to the state
or county. Licenses are sold at the society's offices in Allentown.
''You always get a lot of people coming in'' for licenses after word
of the canvassing appears in the newspaper, Aguirre said. ''It
happens every time.''
Copyright © 2006, The Morning Call
Ginger Cleary, Rome, GA
"You should not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will
convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do
and
the harm it would cause if improperly administered." Lyndon Johnson, 36th
President of the U.S.
_http://www.rihadin.com_ (http://www.rihadin.com/)
============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues
============================================================================
Other related posts:
