San Francisco Supervisors Pass Ordinance Requiring Humane Dog Treatment
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KIM CURTIS, Associated Press
January 12, 2005, SAN FRANCISCO - In this notoriously dog-friendly city, where dog owners are called "pet guardians" and the local shelter keeps strays in plush "apartments," man's best friend is now entitled to a certain standard of living. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed an ordinance that requires "humane treatment of all companion dogs."
That treatment includes: A dog's water needs to be changed at least once a day and served in a non-tipping bowl; food has to be palatable and nutritious; a dog house must have a top, a bottom and three sides; and tethering is highly discouraged as a way of keeping one's dog in the back yard.
The "backyard dog" ordinance was modeled after a similar law in Los Angeles and is directed at residents who keep their dogs outside, according to a spokeswoman for Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who sponsored the legislation at the request of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.
"The ordinance will give us tools to educate the owners," said Carl Friedman, director of Animal Care and Control, who urged the supervisors to take up the legislation. "What it really does is tell these owners what the minimum requirements are if they're going to keep their dog outside."
Friedman said about half of their dog abuse cases fall apart because - before Tuesday - there were no clearly defined standards of care. "It's been played up as an 'only in San Francisco thing' or 'Why are we bothering with this when we have so many other issues,'" Friedman said. "But once I get in a conversation ... I say, 'Look at some of these abandoned and mistreated animals I deal with and you'll feel differently.'"
An estimated 100,000 dogs live in San Francisco. About 100 dogs are in custody at Animal Care and Control at any given time, Friedman said. Those include about 20 or so that were taken away from people for a variety of reasons. About 800 dogs are euthanized each year because of severe medical and behavioral problems, Friedman said.
Friedman said his nine Animal Control officers routinely see dogs kept chained to a fence with no protection from the rain and wind, rodents in their food bowls and tipped-over, empty water bowls. Dogs are often sick, malnourished, wet and cold.
Dog owner Vicki Cocchiarella said when she first heard about the ordinance she questioned whether it was necessary. "All the animals I know in San Francisco are house dogs," said Cocchiarella, who got her mutt, Butch, 12 years ago from a shelter in New York. "I don't know any outdoor dogs. Even families I know who have pets bring them in at night. It's just that kind of culture in San Francisco. Your dog comes with you."
She said the ordinance sounds like common sense."It doesn't seem like an extraordinary thing," she said.
The passage of the ordinance comes about a year after supervisors changed the city's health code to make pets owners also pet "guardians."
Two additional dog-related ordinances passed Tuesday require the exchange of information when a dog bites a person or another dog and prohibit owners of vicious dogs from owning another dog for three years.
