January 8, 2019
Last night, the New Haven Board of Alders incorporated into its public record the AKC’s request and suggested amendments to its recently-amended animal ordinance. After AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) and a board member of the Connecticut Federation of Dog Clubs and Responsible Dog Owners met with the Mayor of New Haven last month, AKC GR submitted a letter to the Board of Alders requesting amendments to their animal ordinance. The December request, on page 122 of the Board’s agenda package, included a mark-up inserting due process protections for dangerous dog determinations, a requirement that owners of dogs deemed dangerous take steps to address the behavior with clear notice that Connecticut state law holds dog owners strictly liable for damage to people or property.
Instead of establishing breeder and litter permits impacting all breeders and owners, the AKC requested amendments would require the owner of a dangerous dog to secure a city permit to maintain ownership in compliance with ordinance rules and enforcement inspections. The original ordinance carries significant fines for violations.
The Board of Alders has assigned the AKC request to the Legislation Committee. A public hearing has been tentatively scheduled to review the AKC mark-up on Tuesday, February 12th at 6pm.
Connecticut dog owners and breeders who contacted the Board of Alders and the Mayor are encouraged to stay in close contact with AKC GR for confirmation of this schedule. It will be imperative that Connecticut constituents attend to support adoption of these changes. For more information, contact Stacey Ober, AKC GR’s legislative analyst/community outreach coordinator for New England, at (919) 816-3348 or Stacey.Ober@akc.org.
Click here for our previous New Haven alert and detailed explanation of AKC’s concerns.