38) Contravenes State Law - Kennel Ordinance

STATE OF MICHIGAN DOG LAW OF 1919

Act 339 of 1919 (EXCERPS)

287.270 “Kennel” defined; kennel license; fee; tags; certificate; rules; inspection; exception.Sec. 10.

Any person who keeps or operates a kennel may, in lieu of individual license required under this act, apply to the county treasurer for a kennel license entitling him to keep or operate a kennel.

Proof of vaccination of dogs against rabies shall not be required with the application.

State law as it compares to:

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL ORDINANCE

ARTICLE IV
LICENSING AND VACCINATION

Section 3. No dog shall be exempt from the rabies vaccination requirements as herein set forth.

This does seem to contravene state law, as the county requires proof of vaccination before issueing a kennel license.

Section 7. Any person who own, keeps or operates a kennel may, In lieu of individual licenses required under this ordinance and under the laws of the State of Michigan, apply to the Treasurer for a kennel license entitling him/her to own, keep or operate such kennel in accordance with the applicable laws and the fee for same shall be in accordance with the laws of the state or as established by the rules and regulations of licensing fees by the Board of Commissioners.

That seems to agree with state law.

Section 8. Any person owning a kennel shall obtain a kennel license upon commencement of kennel operations from the County Treasurer.

What the hell is that?

That does contravene state law and it even contradicts itself!

37) Animal License Fees 2006 from another Michigan County

Animal License Fees 2006 from another Michigan County
______________ALTERED...(Late)...UNALTERED (Late)
DOG/CAT________$6.00..($26.00)...$18.00.......($38.00)
3-YR DOG/CAT___$15.00..($35.00)...$45.00.......($65.00)

cool...............

and this county even has a halfway decent Animal Control program.

This County's 2007 proposed Animal Control Budget is $339,045
Net Cost to General Fund after Revenues taken into account

That means they will contribute that much from their general fund over and above what they receive for licenses.
They don't even come close to covering the entire cost with illegally outrageous dog license fees.

The Shiawassee County Budget for 2007 has been approved and has been posted here

http://christinebarry.com/2006/11/30/shiawassee-county-budget-2007/

The Animal Control Dept doesn't project a huge 'appearing' profit for this year, but keep in mind

1. The dog license fees are more than the entire animal control budget

2. They take in as many cats as they take in dogs

3. The animal control dept is responsible for enforcing ALL animal laws of the state and county

4. State law and county ordinance states "the dog license fee may be set at a rate sufficient to cover the cost of administering the Dog Law of 1919/Shiawassee Animal Control Ordinance, AS IT PERTAINS TO DOGS. No where does it say they may set it at a rate sufficient to cover all animal related enforcement plus have a nice little bit left over

5. As they raised the dog license fee ( to maybe the highest in the state, I've found none higher or even equal) they also reduced the animal control budget

6. Dog license fees go into the General Fund and exceed the Animal Control Budget providing a nice profit for our outlaw county government.

7. Shiawassee County contributes NOTHING to the Animal Control Budget over and above the dog license fees, as does this other county.

36) SAME/DIFFERENT-Kennel Definition

SAME/DIFFERENT-Kennel Definition

Is Paragraph 1 the same as Paragraph 2?

Paragrah 1. Michigan Dog Law of 1919

A kennel shall be construed as an establishment wherein or whereon 3 or more dogs are confined and kept for sale, boarding, breeding or training purposes, for remuneration

Paragraph 2. Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance amendment

A kennel shall be construed as an establishment wherein or whereon five (5) or more dogs are confined and kept for sale, boarding, breeding or training purposes.

********************************************************

Pararaph 1 is an excerpt from the Dog Law of 1919. there is no "." (period) to end the sentence. There is more to it. Actually, quite a bit more.

Paragraph 2 is the new Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance kennel definition. There is a period at the end of the sentence and that is where the definition ends. I think it falls way short of being the same as the dog law of 1919 (Michigan State law).

State law says 3 (three) dogs..county says 5

State law says "for remuneration" and that does put a whole different spin on the issue, plus it says a whole lot more.

It is interesting to note that the county's definition of a kennel was changed to make veterinarians exempt from kennel licenses, as their original ordinance required.

The county board of commissioners chose to change the ordinance after one veterinarian threw a hissy fit over it.

Oh yes...that would be the veterinarian that donates veterinary care for the sheriff's dogs. (and yes the sheriff did have something to do with recommending the ordinance be changed http://shiacac.blogspot.com/2006/06/7conversation-with-sheriff-jon-wilson.html and even more so at http://shiacac.blogspot.com/2006/06/9they-decided.html).

35) MCL 287.270b Kennel licensing ordinance.

MCL 287.270b Kennel licensing ordinance.
Sec. 10b.


Any city, township or village having in its employment a full-time animal control officer may adopt an ordinance providing for the issuance of kennel licenses by the animal control officer on the same terms, conditions and fees as is provided in section 10. Upon the adoption of the ordinance the city, township or village shall be excepted from the provisions of sections 10 and 11 of this act.

History: Add. 1966, Act 132, Eff. Mar. 10, 1967 ;-- Am. 1972, Act 349, Imd. Eff. Jan. 9, 1973

.............................

Doesn't say a county can do that.

REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 25

DOG LAW ___ KENNELS, LICENSING OF. REGULATIONS AS TO

—Regulations of the director of agriculture with regard to dog kennels and the inspection thereof are in effect in those counties which do not have a county dog warden.

In other counties the board of supervisors may adopt the provisions authorizing the promulgation thereof, in which case such regulations would be in effect.

The board of supervisors has no authority however to promulgate regulations in regard thereto.

No. 1897 January 24, 1955

(short version See the complete Opinion at 25)

http://shiacac.blogspot.com/2006/06/25michigan-dog-law-of-1919-sec-10.html

34) Powers of county board of commissioners. [M.S.A. 5.331 ]

46.11 Powers of county board of commissioners. [M.S.A. 5.331 ]
Sec. 11. A county board of commissioners, at a lawfully held meeting may do 1 or more of the following:

j) By majority vote of the members of the county board of commissioners elected and serving,
pass ordinances that relate to county affairs and

do not contravene the general laws of this state

(MCL 46.11(j)...very specifically, very clearly states you cannot pass an ordinance that 'disagree' with a state law.


Well,,,,,,,,,,,,it says they can't........but they did. That makes them outlaws!

"Them" would be our county board of commissioners.

33) Open season on Cats

I received this from a friend:

My neighbor is trapping cats . I don't know what he does with them .His wife says he takes them to the humane society,I don't believe her. Can he do that. I know of about 10 that have disappeared now one of my pets seems to be missing.

And I responded with:

Unfortunately for cat lovers.....there are no laws that prevent trapping, hunting, killing cats, unless it could come under the "cruelty to animals" laws. Highly unlikely, difficult to prove, almost impossible to prosecute.

Only people with a lot of animals get prosecuted for "cruelty" to animals. That makes a big splash in the news, gets all kinds of people fired up, generates bunches of donations to humane societies to prevent such cruelty. (ha!)

I seriously doubt he is taking them to the humane society. They charge a fee of some kind to accept an animal.

The best deterrant for such activities is for people in the neighborhood to let it be known to that person that they know who is doing it. These sneaky, conniving, cowardly bastards generally can't take the heat of knowing that other people know just exactly what sneaky, conniving, cowardly bastards they really are.

One way to do that (diplomatically) is to take pictures of your cats and give the photos to the guy, tell him if he catches one of your cats you would appreciate it if you could recover it before he "takes it to the humane society" (funny how that sounds so much like takes it out in the bushes and shoots it).

On the other hand....we used to be a dairy farm a little over a mile down the road from the humane society. We called it the humane society annex. People would take animals and find them not open or the fee too much and then they would drive by and dump them here. Cows been gone a few years now and a couple rounds of cat respiratory infection and the cat population has thinned down a lot. Those cats carried all manner of parasites...........

Don't know where you live, but there are a couple "Chinese houses" in Owosso that have greatly reduced the pet population in their neighborhoods. (They eat them.)

Then my friend requested that I post this information on my blog and on the SRCC Open Forum. So, here it is with a little addition:

I will add this sort of thing is a good argument for licensing cats. It is against the law to shoot a dog wearing a license, could be the same for cats.