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The ongoing task of updating local animal ordinances
Eddy County
Many citizens in Eddy County worked diligently to put together suggestions for improving the local ordinance in their community, only to have the ordinance tabled by the commission in February 2005. The citizens of Eddy County deserve an updated ordinance that will address their concerns. APV is asking all Eddy County residents to contact their local commissioners to ask that the animal ordinance be taken off the table and put up for consideration.
You can reach the Eddy County commissioners at the following numbers:
District 1: Julius Doubrava, Carlsbad, (505) 887-0615
District 2: Lewis Derrick, Artesia, (505) 365-2296
District 3: Guy Lutman, Carlsbad, (505) 885 0522
District 4: Lucky Briggs, Carlsbad, (505) 885-1765
District 5: Janell Whitlock, Carlsbad, (505) 885-3427
City of Artesia
We all know that microchipping the companion animals in your home is an easy and safe way to ensure that if they are ever lost, you have a better chance of finding the—and finding them quickly.
The City of Artesia also wants to be able to locate the guardians of companion animals when they pick up animals at large, or when caring citizens bring in the lost animals they have found. They recently enacted a local ordinance requiring companion animals to be microchipped or to have a city license. Artesia’s animal control officer and Police Chief collaborated on the ordinance and the City Council passed the language in early September.
APV will be working with the City to help its citizens get their animals microchipped, thus ensuring they can find their way home if ever lost.
City of Rio Rancho
The City of Rio Rancho created a task force last year to make recommendations for improving the existing animal control ordinance in the city. The task force was comprised of local rescue organizations, animal control employees and other animal-friendly community members. They presented their final report to the Mayor, City manager and Council in August 2005.
APV was there to support the recommendations of the task force, which include spaying and neutering animals before adoption, keeping the shelter open for longer hours to facilitate more adoptions, adding additional kennels for dogs to compensate for the rapidly growing city (which includes animal companions, too) and numerous other suggestions for improving the lives of animals in Rio Rancho.
The Council, Manager and Mayor directed City staff to incorporate all these recommendations into a proposed new ordinance and have the document back to them as soon as possible. APV has offered to provide model ordinances on any topic to the City if needed, and will continue to work with the task force to ensure all aspects of the proposed ordinance pass.
If you live in Rio Rancho, please contact you’re the Mayor, the City Manager and your Councilor and ask that they support all the changes the task force recommended. You can reach all of them by calling the City at (505) 891-5000, or by going to the City’s website at http://www.ci.rio-rancho.nm.us/government.htm.
City of Roswell
Citizens, humane society employees and animal control personnel have been working together in Roswell to make changes to the city’s animal ordinance, with APV providing sample language in order to make the process as smooth as possible. By looking at ordinances from around the state to see what worked for other similar communities, the citizens, volunteers and City personnel have been able to put together several changes they believe will make their city more humane for animals and safer for citizens.
One of the proposed changes is limiting the amount of time an animal spends in “protective custody” at the shelter awaiting trial, a court order for release or an appearance. In many places across the country and in New Mexico a dog can wait for months before going to court on a dog bite case or any other case where he or she is being held, as animal cases are not typically a high priority for an overburdened system. The group exploring new changes to the ordinance saw for themselves how keeping an animal in a kennel for months can be devastating for an animal, and are working to include language in their ordinance that limits the time to fourteen days or less. Similar language was included in the state legislation APV worked to pass in the 2005 session regarding dangerous dogs—in cases where dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs are being held, the officers must take them to court within fourteen days.
If you live in Roswell and would like to support improving the City ordinance, please contact APV and we will connect you to those in your community working to do so. You can reach us at (505) 265-2322 or send an email to info@apvnm.org.
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