PennyT Posted June 16, 2006 Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 I read that Jefferson County, Kentucky is considering an ordinance which will ban all dog trials on livestock (in fact all dog performance events) except those sanctioned by the AKC. Does anyone know anything about this? My understanding is that the proposal is animal rights/PETA motivated. Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi Posted June 16, 2006 Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 Talk about backwards! I wonder if whoever proposed this idiotic thing has gone to an AKC trial ... and then went to a real dog trial ... and noticed which one had more out-of-control chasing of stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted June 16, 2006 Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 There is absolutely no way. For one thing, there are several popular dog sports which are governed only by non-ACK bodies - flyball has two, neither of which have anything to do with ACK. Disc dog has two or three, if you count Incredible Dog. Isn't dog racing legal in KY also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted June 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 Jefferson County is in the Louisville metro area. I don't know if there are dog tracks there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 Something like this came up on the Pit Bull Forum a month or so ago (one of those "please crosspost!" emails), and I read a few of the drafts in question. Louisville/Jefferson County has been revising an ordinance, and most of the new language in the drafts has to do with elephant rides (seriously---there must have been a problem) and restrictions on pit bulls. (Rottweilers are no longer mentioned.) No part of the ordinance grants the AKC the power to approve, define, sanction or restrict anything. Once again, the ordinance is chiefly concerned with "dangerous dogs." Seven drafts so far! What can I say... it came up when I googled Louisville + "Dog ordinance" The original, crossposted email took one draft of an ordinance directed mainly at pit bulls and somehow turned it into an AKC/PETA plot to "make the final agenda a reality" Seriously, I can't imagine that the citizens of Louisville, Kentucky would support legislation outlawing rodeos, coon hunts, livestock shows and stockdog trials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 About four or five years ago, a PETA member got enough signatures on a petition to place an article before town meeting in Swanzey, the town where our county fairgrounds is located, seeking to ban all "public displays or exhibitions of animals." It was soundly defeated, but there is a certain familiar stink about this proposal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted June 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 Thanks, Luisa. I searched something like Jefferson County dog ordinance or proposed dog ordinance and only got the initial definitions. I never for one moment thought the AKC itself was given the authority to limit events. The ordinance can be read without any stretch of meaning at all to prohibit all dog trials on livestock unless the trials are sanctioned either by the AKC, the United States Kennel Club (not UKC but perhaps that is what was intended), or by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. For real. I am amazed. A dog trial on livestock falls under the definition of theatrical exhibition (Section 91.001) which specifies: Any exhibition or act featuring performing animals. Such exhibitions shall not include resident or non-resident dog...shows which are sponsored and/or sanctioned by the American Kennel Club, the United States Kennel Club...or any affiliate thereof. In regard to theatrical exhibitions, Section 91.084 also exempts events sanctioned by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and contains the following provisions: (F) No animal shall be caused to ... be physically matched against any other animal or person.(G) No animal shall perform or be displayed in any dangerous situation, such situation presenting the danger of physical injury to the animal or person. NAILE probably would be excluded through the state department of agriculture. Most of the wrangling apparently has to do with exempting people attending dog shows from having to get temporary licenses. I looked to see if Kentucky state law has any exemptions that might apply. It does for hunting dogs in some situations but not for dogs working livestock. My search was cursory, however. Florida, for example, does have that kind of exemption regarding leash laws and maybe some others: Hunting dogs are exempt from the provisions of this act when engaged in any legal hunt or training procedure. Dogs engaged in training or exhibiting in legal sports such as obedience trials, conformation shows, field trials, hunting/retrieving trials, and herding trials are exempt from the provisions of this act when engaged in any legal procedures. However, such dogs at all other times in all other respects shall be subject to this and local laws. In sum, I think the pit bull folks are right about the proposed ordinance, which for all I know may have passed by now. Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted June 17, 2006 Report Share Posted June 17, 2006 Here's the entire ordinance in question. Here is the latest draft. Note Section 91.054, which specifically concerns "any dog fight, cock fight or other combat between animals." Section 91.084 (91.0864 in the draft) covers "Theatrical Exhibitions." Note that the bulk of the section concerns elephant rides The language pertaining to elephants was revised in 2005. Everything else in this section dates to 2003 or before. From an article I linked upthread, dated June 10, 2006: the proposed ordinance is now in its seventh draft, and the city's animal control director, Dr. Gilles Meloche, says, "We're getting there. Probably in two months, we should be there." I also recognize a certain familiar stink, but I think it's coming from a few fear-mongering politicians, badly-written legislation and the ol' internet rumor mill. There's an anti-pit bull agenda here, but not, as far as I can tell, an animal rights one. (For the record, the slimes at PETA enjoy publicizing their wish to exterminate pit bulls. Ask me how much I hate that idiotic fascist Ingrid Newkirk :mad: ) Just for comparison, here's a concise dogfighting statute from California :cool: Excerpt: © Nothing in this section shall prohibit any of the following: (1) The use of dogs in the management of livestock, as defined by Section 14205 of the Food and Agricultural Code, by the owner of the livestock or his or her employees or agents or other persons in lawful custody thereof. Here [scroll down for additional sponsors of the ordinance] are the names, phone numbers and e addys of all the people involved with the revision of the Louisville/Jefferson County ordinance. (Ms. Hamilton is committee co-chair.) It wouldn't hurt to remind them that sections of the ordinance should exempt herding and hunting dogs, as the California statute does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted June 18, 2006 Report Share Posted June 18, 2006 As Penny says, the definition of "theatrical exhibition" could well be interpreted to include stockdog trials, and as Maria says, this part of the ordinance has been in effect for some time and the current effort to amend the ordinance does not deal with theatrical exhibitions. If people are inclined to contact legislators, probably the best thing to ask for would be to add "or any sheepdog or cattledog trial" to the end of the "theatrical exhibition" definition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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