Pet health Q & A: Leash laws, loose cats and when to spay and neuter

Pet health Q & A: Leash laws, loose cats and when to spay and neuter


The answers contained here apply to people who reside in the unincorporated areas of San Diego County and the cities of San Diego, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Santee, as those areas fall under the jurisdiction of the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services. If you live in another area, please check with the organization that provides animal control services for that city as the local laws may differ; however, state laws apply.


March 14, 2010


By Jennifer Reed, SDNN jennifer.reed@sdnn.com or 858-309-4897


San Diego News Network (SDNN)

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Welcome to your pet questions, answered.


In this section, SDNN and a range of local experts answer your burning pet questions – everything from exercise and diet to common animal laws. We’ll crack the myths, correct the contradictory information and give you the truth about your pet.

What do you want to know? Get a professional’s opinion and send your questions to health and wellness editor, Jennifer Reed, at jennifer.reed@sdnn.com

Answering this week’s questions, from the San Diego Department of Animal Services, is Animal Medical Operations Manager David Johnson and Supervising Animal Control Office Lt. Dan DeSousa.

The answers contained here apply to people who reside in the unincorporated areas of San Diego County and the cities of San Diego, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Santee, as those areas fall under the jurisdiction of the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services. If you live in another area, please check with the organization that provides animal control services for that city as the local laws may differ; however, state laws apply.

Q. Do I have to keep my dog on a leash all the time?

A. Dan says: Yes. By keeping your dog on a leash whenever you leave your property, you are helping to keep both the public and your pet safe. When your dog is on a leash, you can control the dog and prevent anyone else from being bitten. It’s simple: if the dog is unrestrained, you have no control over the dog and would not be able to prevent the dog from harming another person. A dog being walked on a leash cannot dart out into traffic and get hit by a car or cause a traffic accident (for which you could be held liable). Nor can a leashed dog chase after and injure another animal, be it a cat, wild animal or other dog. A leash will also help you prevent your dog from getting into things which could either kill him or her (antifreeze, poison) or nauseate you (eating feces or rolling in trash).

Also, dogs are territorial animals by nature. If they are allowed to run loose throughout the neighborhood, they will likely come to see your front yard and those of your neighbors as being their territory. Any “intruder” into that territory (be it a person or another dog) could easily be attacked.

As a note, the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services describes a leash as “any rope, strap, chain or other material six feet or less in length, intended to be held in the hand of a person for the purpose of controlling an animal to which it is attached.”

Q. What can I do about cats coming onto my property?

A. Dan says: There are no regulatory laws for cats and, as such, our Animal Control Officers have no authority to impound loose or homeless cats. However, as a property owner, you do have the legal authority to humanely trap any loose cats on your property and deliver them to our animal shelters. (Note: All state and local anti-animal cruelty laws do apply to cats).

I would recommend that you first speak to the owner of the cat (if known) and advise them that you do not want the cat to come onto your property. Let them know if the problem continues that you intend to set out humane traps to capture the cats and bring them to a shelter. One would hope that they will cooperate as they don’t want to see the cat trapped and brought to a shelter. You may borrow a trap from our shelter by leaving a $50 deposit. Generally we allow a person to keep the trap for one week, but if an extension is needed, it can be granted. After you have trapped a cat, you must keep it safe from harm (there is an instruction sheet with the trap) and you simply need to bring the cat (in the trap) to the closest animal shelter that can legally accept strays. If you know who owns the cat, you must provide us with that information so that we may notify the owner that their cat has been impounded. The owner will be required to pay fees in order to reclaim the cat from the shelter.

As a note, there are thousands of feral (unsocialized domestic) cats in neighborhoods throughout the county. Feral cat colony caretakers place food out for these cats. The cats are captured by members of the Feral Cat Coalition (FCC) and taken to a veterinary hospital to be spayed and neutered, vaccinated, tested for feline leukemia and if, deemed healthy, returned and released in the area where they were trapped. This is known as “Trap, Neuter and Release.” The colony caretakers then continue to feed and otherwise manage the colony.

Q. It’s kitten season. When should I spay or neuter my cat?

A. David says: (see 2-minute and 22-second video at originating website address / URL, scroll down page) http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-03-14/lifestyle/pet-health-q-a-leash-laws-loose-cats-and-when-to-spay-and-neuter

Copyright 2010, San Diego News Network.

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-03-14/lifestyle/pet-health-q-a-leash-laws-loose-cats-and-when-to-spay-and-neuter

To Animal Control Officers & Dog Wardens, From Those You Serve

To Animal Control Officers & Dog Wardens, From Those You Serve

Thank you for loving your job, which means loving the animal that cannot defend themselves against abuse, neglect, etc. We understand that yours is often a thankless job, but we appreciate you more than you will ever know!

Thank you for looking past our shivering, frightened, lost, injured, aged, abused, abandoned, or ill countenances, to the one-of-a-kind animal soul within that was NOT born dangerous or contagious to others.

Thank you for harboring no ill will toward us if we, out of terror from our past experiences with some people, growl or snap at you. You know we don't mean to hurt you. You know we are out of our minds with the baggage that has been heaped upon us by the thoughtless, ignorant, uncaring people we've had as "owners." You do your best to seek justice for us, though you are hampered at what seems like almost every turn by toothless laws and an overwhelmed, understaffed judicical system. We understand, kind sir or ma'am. We love you because of all this, and more. We just cannot say so in words, but we are so grateful, just the same!

Thank you for being there for those dog lovers who trust you to try to help them when unforeseen things happen to their pets and doing your best to reunite us with our people.
Thank you for the professional way in which you do your job, yet for still having the kindness and maturity not to judge things by what they may appear at first glance.

Thank you for all you do that no one will ever know -- from those like the poor, expectant dog abandoned in a rural roadside ditch, who owes her life and the lives of her puppies, in no small measure to your solicitous actions -- to the abandoned litter of newborn kittens left alongside a rural road. Each of us animals that you help, adores you and thanks you from the bottom of our grateful animal hearts!

Thank you for having heart, soul, manners, and the indefinable "something" that makes you shine at your work and truly love it.

Thank you on behalf of all those dogs you've yet to meet, who will trust you to do your best for them.

Thank you from each of us that have been helped in some way by your kind actions -- even if it meant helping us over the Rainbow Bridge to a place where there is no pain, aging, illness, injury, or suffering. We understand and we love you, even though we cannot tell you in words. It is not your fault, the circumstances that brought our paths together at that place that was at the end of our earthly lives.

Please know that, when you visit us one day at Rainbow Bridge, we will cover your face and hands with kisses, romp with you in heavenly meadows of the most beautiful flowers and soft grass, and tell God that you're the angel we met on earth!

I am your Animal Control Officer

I am your Animal Control Officer


Undated


Author Unknown (but owed a great deal of gratitude)



I am your animal control officer. I am not the dreaded "Dog Catcher" or the "Murderer" you call me.

I'm not the one who allows your pet to roam the streets, to contract diseases from other free-roaming animals, to be hit by passing motorists or poisoned by rotting garbage. I am the one who must look into those sick, pain-glazed eyes, try to remove the animal without causing it further pain, and then humanely "put it to sleep" to end its suffering.

I'm not the one who allows your pet to breed, then dumps the unwanted puppies and kittens on the roadsides and in shelters. I'm the one who must find the tiny animals before they die of starvation, exposure or disease, and as an act of mercy, exterminate them.

It hurts me to be forced to kill hundreds of animals each year, but because of your irresponsibility, I have no choice.

I'm not the one who abandons unwanted animals on farm roads, telling myself that some friendlier farmer will surely take them in and give them a good home. But I am the one who picks up the frightened animal who waits in vain for its beloved master, wondering why it has been abandoned.

I am the one who must help that friendly farmer trap, tranquilize or kill that animal, because it has begun to roam in packs with other abandoned and hungry animals, killing livestock, fowl and game.

I am not the one who breeds and fights dogs in the name of "sport." But I am the one who fights the breeders and participants, and I pick up the dead and dying animals left behind.

I'm not the one who keeps a pet confined in an area too small -- without food, water, shelter, or exercise. But I must deal with the irresponsible owner that does.

I'm not the one who refuses to spend time and money to keep up with regular inoculations that all pets require. But I am the one who must pick up a sick animal that is dying from a preventable disease.

So remember -- the next time your child is bitten by a stray dog, your trash is dumped and scattered, your pet is lost, stolen, poisoned or hit by a car -- it is the Animal Control Officer you call, not the "dog catcher."

The next time your pet is picked up, or you are cited for neglecting or abusing it, remember that I am only trying to get you to fulfill your responsibility to your pet, your neighbor and yourself.

Do not scorn me. Respect me, for I am the product of your irresponsibility.