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14 <br /> 1 What we need is to have you act to preserve the citizen's right to keep a watchdog, especially <br /> 2 in rural Orange County, a natural human right that has existed since before there were laws, <br /> 3 and ought to continue to be recognized and defended by our elected officials. <br /> 4 Please do not vote to remove the present watchdog category, as the "Unified" ordinance <br /> 5 proposes to do. <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Secondly, please be sure that the appeals Board,to which a citizen may appeal arbitrary, <br /> 8 baseless, or otherwise patently incorrect decisions that affect their animals, their homes and <br /> 9 their purses, is an independent appeals Board. The "Unified" ordinance requires that <br /> 10 appeals be heard by the Animal Services Board. In my opinion, the appeal ought to go to a <br /> 11 judicial authority, and I believe the "Unified" ordinance is unconstitutional because the right to <br /> 12 appeal agency decisions to judicial review is fundamental to the principle of due process. But <br /> 13 at least make the appeal's first step to a body consisting of a majority of citizens not directly <br /> 14 associated with the AS Board. <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Finally,there are many places in the proposed "Unified" ordinance where sentences are <br /> 17 incomplete or nonsense words or phrases remain, even after our pointing them out <br /> 18 previously. Couldn't we at least expect that their product would have been edited so as to <br /> 19 be in a form you might adopt, rather than still needing the assistance of outside editors? <br /> 20 <br /> 21 Bob Epting <br /> 22 <br /> 23 Ed Johnson read his own statement, as follows: <br /> 24 <br /> 25 1 am glad that Animal Control has listened to both the Board and to us citizens who <br /> 26 have made complaints and offered suggestions. My appearance last time was <br /> 27 prompted by my dog's being declared "vicious" for biting someone. After I pointed <br /> 28 out that my dog was acting as a watchdog and had bitten a trespasser, the <br /> 29 declaration was rescinded. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 In the June draft of the unified ordinance, Animal Control deleted the category of <br /> 32 watchdog and watered down the idea of a trespass. Under the new ordinance, my <br /> 33 dog would be nailed as "vicious." You told Animal Control to come back with a new <br /> 34 draft that makes no new laws. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 Animal Control has now presented you with a new draft that presumably makes no <br /> 37 substantive changes from what already exists. Presumably, substantive changes will <br /> 38 be added later. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 On page 2 of the Agenda Abstract, Animal Control says that rather than presenting <br /> 41 the ordinance for an up or down vote, the Board is given a "menu of choices" where <br /> 42 they can say yea or nay on each of seven issues. This is a quote: For example, it is <br /> 43 possible to adopt the ordinance while preserving watchdogs as a category of security <br /> 44 dog." The "menu" is on page 14. It does not contain the promised watchdog issue. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 People in the country have dogs for two reasons: As pets and as guardians. I rely on my <br /> 47 dog's bark to alert me that someone is approaching. This is part of her job. So I would <br /> 48 like to see the category of watchdog retained. I'd even be willing to have her officially <br /> 49 registered with Animal Control as a watchdog. <br /> 50 <br />