Agenda - 11-18-2008 - 6b - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 18, 2008 Action Agenda Item No. ~ - (~ SUBJECT: Proposed Animal Ordinance Amendment Restricting the Tethering of Dogs - Second Reading DEPARTMENT: Animal Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Proposed Ordinance Amendment INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Marotto, Director, Animal Services 968-2287 PURPOSE: To adopt on second reading the proposed amendment to the Orange County Animal Ordinance restricting the tethering of dogs on its second reading. BACKGROUND: The proposed amendment contains the following restrictions on tethering of dogs: • No more than a total of 3 hours of tethering within a 24-hour period • A specification of the types of collars and equipment permissible for allowed tethering • An exemption for certain organized and lawful animal functions and circumstances The proposed amendment has been revised to reflect the following changes requested by the BOCC at two recent meetings: • An exemption for tethered dogs with people in camping and recreational areas • An exemption for tethered dogs that are accompanied by and in the visual field of a responsible person • Deletion of Section (L) which required minimum enclosure sizes for dogs of different weights and a minimum area for multiple dogs kept in the same enclosure. The effective date of the proposed amendment would be 12 months from the date of BOCC adoption. This would allow 12 months - a full year -for the Department to implement a variety of public outreach activities leading up to implementation. The first 6 months of the implementation period would be used to issue warnings only for lack of compliance. Full enforcement of ordinance requirements, as amended, would therefore not begin until 18 months into the future.