Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson has signed this despicable anti-pet ordinance into law even though there was overwhelming opposition to it. The mayor and many of the council members have completely shunned their duties to the residents of this community and have enacted one of the worst pet laws in this country. They have failed to represent the people of this community and instead opted to follow partisan politics. The new law reeks of an animal rights / anti pet owner agenda. (To anyone reading this part, let me make this clear.. We are all for the rights of animals to be treated the best. Our animals are part of our families. But the animal rights groups like PETA and HSUS have agendas that you may not have known about. Click here to see what we mean. The HSUS had a representative giving a lot of advice to the people who made this ordinance. Despite is name (Humane Society of the United States) the HSUS does not run any rescues, nor does it give any of it's huge amount of money to run local shelters.

This battle will now have to be taken to the courts. You can read the full and signed ordinance here. You can help win this legal battle by donating to the LKC legal fund.

Here are some of the provisions:

1) There is no grandfather clause. If you currently own more dogs than are permitted for your lot size (No more than 3 dogs if you have .5 acres or less). If you’re over the limit, you are out of luck and out of compliance.

2) All unaltered (spayed/neutered) dogs must be in an enclosure that has been *approved in writing* by the Director of Louisville Metro Animal Services.

3) If you trail ride in the park, you must carry with you a "suitable device for the picking up, collection and proper sanitary disposal" of any manure dropped by your horse. Further, you must actually dismount, collect said manure, and dispose of it while maintaining control of your horse.

4) Vets are required to turn over their rabies shot records to LMAS so that dogs which got a rabies vax but not a license can be impounded.. They are also required to notify their clients of the provisions of this 94+ page ordinance.

5) All unaltered dogs must be microchipped. (There are new studies out that show a link between microchips and cancer, by the way--several of them.)

6) If you show your unaltered dog, and travel with it for more than 3 days, you must notify the Director as to the change in location of your unaltered dog.

7) If you sell, give away, or board (yes, board) your unaltered dog, you must notify the Director.

8) You may not purchase an unaltered dog without the written permission of the Director.

9) Revaccination/relicensing requirement for all dogs/cats removed from a kennel or cattery at any time.

10) Prohibits use of invisible fencing for unaltered dogs.

11) Mandates spay/neuter for any unaltered dog that is impounded for any
reason before the owner can reclaim the dog.

12) If any of your animals (not just dogs) “irritates” or “perturbs” anyone twice within a 5 year period, you will be forced to give up ALL of your animals and will be prohibited from owning animals again for 2 years.

13) Prohibits ownership of ANY animals by anyone who has two violations within 5 years-no matter how minor.

14) Requires reporting of all sales of all dogs, with buyers name & address to be sent to MAS, even if buyer is not local.

15) If you have more than one unaltered pet, of any species, then you will need a $300 Animal Dealer’s license to sell any offspring of your current pets. This includes gerbils, mice, ferrets as well as dogs and cats.

16) Every time you pick up your dog, cat, or ferret from a kennel—even a boarding kennel, you must get it relicensed and revaccinated against rabies!

The list just goes on and on...

PET OWNERS: NOW THAT THE LOUISVILLE ANTI-PET LAW HAS PASSED, TAKE THESE STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR PETS:

The following suggestions are adapted from The American Dog Owner's Association. For more detail information please visit their site.

1. If you are contacted by phone about any animals you may or may not own, ask why the person wants to know. If they ask if you have any type of animal for sale, ask for a name, address and phone number, and tell them you or another responsible pet breeder will be in touch with them at a better time.

2. If the person on the phone claims to be an official, ask for the following information and write it down! Keep a notebook of the date and time of the call and of any other calls concerning your animals. Keep these records handy for future reference!

FULL NAME, TITLE, PHONE NUMBER
SUPERVISORS FULL NAME, PHONE NUMBER
AGENCY'S FULL NAME AND FULL ADDRESS
NATURE OF THE INQUIRY (what it is about)
WHY THE INQUIRY IS BEING MADE
HOW YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER WERE OBTAINED

ASK THAT ALL FUTURE QUESTIONS FROM THAT AGENCY BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING
REMEMBER: You do not have to answer ANY questions! You don't even have to give your name and address. You are protected under the Constitution (5th Amendment) from self-incrimination: DO NOT indicate anything that might suggest you are in violation of current anti-pet laws. You can refuse to answer questions, and you don't have to call back to verify anyone's official identity.

PERSONAL INVESTIGATION: If you are confronted with some official demanding to investigate your property, the following responses are recommended:

If the person presents a badge, you should ask for:

HIS FULL NAME AND PHONE NUMBER
HIS SUPERVISORS FULL NAME, PHONE NUMBER
THE AGENCY HE REPRESENTS
HIS BADGE NUMBER
WHY HE IS THERE TO SEE YOU
IS THERE ANY COMPLAINT INVOLVED
WHO MADE THESE COMPLAINTS (he probably won't answer)
WHETHER HE HAS A WARRANT FOR A SEARCH
REQUEST A COPY OF THAT WARRANT (probably he won't have one)

You should answer no questions but ask that he send or deliver all questions in writing. You should write down the answers to all of these questions as the conversation proceeds. A simple notebook will do the job.

If you feel that a search of your home will lead to threatened confiscation of a pet or a criminal complaint you should refuse entry to your home unless the sheriff or police are present with a search warrant. If he says that he can get one easily, then tell him to do so. Remain cool and polite.

Call your attorney at the time of threatened seizure and ask him to help you. Do not answer any questions from the police without legal advice. Do not offer any explanations regardless of what they may be (police and enforcement officials have a bad habit of misinterpreting such explanations!). Remember, everything you say can and probably will be used against you. Do not volunteer any dogs or other property.

Call other breeders in the area to warn them and inform them of the occurrence.

COOPERATION: Remember that cooperation will not usually avoid prosecution. Also remember that seizure of one of your pets without court action, under protest, amounts to prosecution without trial. We repeat - anything you say or do in regard to the attempted seizure or inquiries may be used against you in a criminal or quasi-criminal action. Everything you say or do will probably be used against you. Write down everything that is said or done as it happens. These notes can be valuable evidence to defend yourself at a later time.

http://www.adoa.org/reference/dog_owners_rights.php

Dog Owners Rights


REMEMBER -- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ALLOW ANYONE INTO YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT A PROPER SEARCH WARRANT!

SUGGESTED STEPS TO BE TAKEN IN THE EVENT OF LOCAL ANTI-DOG ENFORCEMENT. The following text outlines methods of inquiry and enforcement which may be used by local officials in attempts to enforce anti-dog ordinances in your community and suggested techniques of response. These techniques are entirely legal and based upon the rights of citizens as stated by the U. S. Constitution.

A: TELEPHONE INQUIRY OR THREAT: You may receive telephone inquiries concerning the number of dogs you own and whether any dogs or puppies are for sale. Other questions may also be asked.

Your response should be to inquire "Are you interested in a puppy?" If the answer is "yes", ask that person for his name, address and phone number. Suggest that you or a responsible breeder will contact that person at a more convenient time for you.

If the answer is friendly and genuinely inquisitive, invite the person to look at your puppies.

If the question is asked "What price is each puppy being sold for?", simply say that puppies of this type are being sold for between "X" and "Y" dollars. Never say that you are selling them.

If the question is asked "Are these your puppies?", you should ask "Why do you want to know?"

If your conversation indicates that the person is representing the county clerk's office or allegedly representing an official body, ask the caller for:

FULL NAME, TITLE, PHONE NUMBER
SUPERVISORS FULL NAME, PHONE NUMBER
AGENCY'S FULL NAME AND FULL ADDRESS
NATURE OF THE INQUIRY (what it is about)
WHY THE INQUIRY IS BEING MADE
HOW YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER WERE OBTAINED
ASK THAT ALL FUTURE QUESTIONS FROM THAT AGENCY BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING

If you believe that you are being harassed, do not give your address or your name; it is not your problem to send the letter. Make a complete record in writing of the date and time of each phone call and all the information that was requested by you and the caller. Keep these records with your dog records so they may be referred to in the future.

Under no circumstances should you volunteer information or admit any action which may be in violation of the ordinances over the telephone. You should not attempt to mislead or otherwise lie to a caller nor should you treat such a caller with any more respect than you would a magazine salesman. You do not have to incriminate yourself under the Fifth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution and you should certainly not make such statements over the telephone.

Do not bother to call back to verify identities or information simply because you are requested to (you are under no obligation to spend money to aid a criminal investigation of yourself).

B: PERSONAL INVESTIGATION: If you are confronted with some official demanding to investigate your property, the following responses are recommended:

If the person presents a badge, you should ask for:

HIS FULL NAME AND PHONE NUMBER
HIS SUPERVISORS FULL NAME, PHONE NUMBER
THE AGENCY HE REPRESENTS
HIS BADGE NUMBER
WHY HE IS THERE TO SEE YOU
IS THERE ANY COMPLAINT INVOLVED
WHO MADE THESE COMPLAINTS (he probably won't answer)
WHETHER HE HAS A WARRANT FOR A SEARCH
REQUEST A COPY OF THAT WARRANT (probably he won't have one)

You should answer no questions but ask that he send or deliver all questions in writing. You should write down the answers to all of these questions as the conversation proceeds. A simple notebook will do the job.

If you feel that a search of your home will lead to threatened confiscation of a dog or a criminal complaint you should refuse entry to your home unless the sheriff or police are present with a search warrant. If he says that he can get one easily, then tell him to do so. Remain cool and polite. Call your attorney as soon as possible

If you are faced with a threatened seizure without court hearing or court order, call the police immediately. Also obtain the names of all persons involved, including police officers. This may prevent seizure. Please understand that seizure of property, without due process of law, is unconstitutional, and due process of law should include a court hearing in every action relating to such seizure. If the animal control officials or police seize a dog, they may not destroy the animal or harm it in any way until a judge has ruled that you are in violation and this can only occur after a full hearing.

Call your attorney at the time of threatened seizure and ask him to help you. Do not answer any questions from the police without legal advice. Do not offer any explanations regardless of what they may be (police and enforcement officials have a bad habit of misinterpreting such explanations!). Remember, everything you say can and probably will be used against you. Do not volunteer any dogs or other property.

Call other breeders in the area to warn them and inform them of the occurrence.
The mayor and the council member's email addresses are below.

Mayor Jerry Abramson
mayor@louisvilleky.gov
or call
502-574-2003

Council Members
judith.green@louisvilleky.gov
barbara.shanklin@louisvilleky.gov
mary.woolridge@louisvilleky.gov
david.tandy@louisvilleky.gov
cheri.hamilton@louisvilleky.gov
george.unseld@louisvilleky.gov
ken.fleming@louisvilleky.gov
tom.owen@louisvilleky.gov
tina.ward-pugh@louisvilleky.gov
jim.king@louisvilleky.gov
kevin.kramer@louisvilleky.gov
rick.blackwell@louisvilleky.gov
vicki.welch@louisvilleky.gov
bob.henderson@louisvilleky.gov
marianne.butler@louisvilleky.gov
kelly.downard@louisvilleky.gov
glen.stuckel@louisvilleky.gov
julie.adams@louisvilleky.gov
hal.heiner@louisvilleky.gov
stuart.benson@louisvilleky.gov
dan.johnson@louisvilleky.gov
robin.engel@louisvilleky.gov
james.peden@louisvilleky.gov
madonna.flood@louisvilleky.gov
doug.hawkins@louisvilleky.gov
ellen.call@louisvilleky.gov

What the #@&%$!!!!!!!

Well that pretty much changes my plans to retire with my hounds to KY

Can't wait for the first law suit.

You have got to be kidding me. I won't be spening my tourism dollars there any time soon.
Tara