Mudita Journal

Lousy New Pet Laws in Albuquerque

May 26, 2006 · Filed under: Current Events, Politics
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Way to go, Albuquerque City Council:

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez will sign a controversial animal ordinance into law, despite his belief much of it isn’t enforceable.”If it were fully enforceable, pet owners would have a lot to be worried about,” Chavez said Monday night. “But we don’t have the ability to enforce it.”

The City Council voted 6-3 Monday to pass Sally Mayer’s controversial Human and Ethical Animal Rules and Treatment ordinance, ending a month of debate that spanned three meetings. Councilors Don Harris, Michael Cadigan and Brad Winter voted against it.

The most widely accepted provisions of the bill make it mandatory to have identification microchips in pets once the legislation is enacted Aug. 22; spaying and neutering pets must be done by six months later, unless a pet owner buys the $150 permit to keep the animal intact.

But it’s the level of detail within the nearly 70-page ordinance – specifically the vastly expanded definition of animal cruelty – that caused the most debate and leaves the most doubt.

“You can’t play with a tennis ball in your front yard,” Harris said, citing his interpretation of restrictions within the ordinance. “You just can’t do it.”

The bad news — or at least one part of the bad news — is that the folks responsible for enforcing pet laws may be so taxed by the new requirements that they become less able to enforce the ones that really matter.

Like, fining or penalizing owners who leave their dogs barking inside their apartment all day long while they’re at work, causing considerable nuisance for their neighbors.

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  • http://www.boundlessenthusiasm.com/ Captain Obvious

    “Any disturbing noise can be as helpful as silence. How? By dropping your inner resistance to the noise, by allowing it to be as it is, this acceptance also takes you into that realm of inner peace that is stillness.” -Eckhart Tolle

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