The war on drugs may be in it's final throes, but there's plenty of stuff to spend municipal money on while keeping the whole concept of "war on X" going. The War on Dogs lasted about five months and it was won by the town of WB. The prescription was simple: increase the fines for pet violations by 150 percent from $100 to $250. Check out this article on the town website: http://www.townofwrightsvillebeach.com/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewContent/mid/576/ArticleID/60/Default.aspx OK, that was really more of just a headline, but the entire list of laws that govern our furry friends can be found deep within the website (on another website because why?):
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/North%20Carolina/wright/titleixgeneralregulations/chapter91animals?f=templates$fn=altmain-nf.htm$q=dogs%20$x=server$3.0#LPHit1
Our favorite has to be:
91:13 Every female dog, while in heat, shall be confined in a building or secure enclosure in a manner that she will not be in contact with another dog, nor create a nuisance by attracting other animals. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the intentional breeding of animals within an enclosed area on the premises of the owner of an animal being bred.
Hey now. Are we still talking about dogs or the cougars that run the loop and hang out at Boca Bay?
If you own a dog on or bring a dog to WB, you may want to take the time to read the statues that apply. One thing we could not find in there is that starting earlier this year YOU DON"T GET A WARNING! $250 ticket. Done.
All the laws seen pretty reasonable. There's been very little dog feces on the loop this year and none on the
beach. The birds and turtle are safe from the dogs digging up their nests, and that is a great thing. But as usual, there is always one little fucked up thing that implies the law goes too far and you have to wonder how it made it on the books. It this case, it's this shit:
"An owner or custodian of a dog will have on or near their person a device such as a plastic bag, or other suitable plastic or paper container, that can be used to fully clean-up and contain dog waste until it can be disposed of in an appropriate container. Such a device must be produced and shown, up
on request, to anyone authorized to enforce these ordinances."
OK! NO! WHAT!? So what if the dog takes a shit two or three times before you get to the next bag holder. How many bag holders are there? There's about four or five that we know of. What if you're not on the loop? There are none. What if the cop just wants to be a dick? There's a one in two chance of that. And what does "fully clean up" mean? That's only possible about 30 percent of the time because most dogs don't have solid poop all the time. You can try to argue that you'll go find a bag
and keep it on you, but it is guaranteed that unless you are a young person or a visitor to the island this ordinance will not be an issue--and selective enforcement is the dirty part of war. But it doesn't stop there. Here's the rest:
It shall be unlawful for the owner or custodian of any dog to take it off its own property limits without the means to properly remove and dispose of their dog's feces from any public or private property.
So don't even think about it. Case closed. $250.
Finally there's this doozy:
"It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog to allow the animal to be off the premises of his owner and not on a leash in the town."
Most sensible municipalities in this country add another bit to this law that says something like, "...unless the dog is under voice command or is the process of training..." Nope. $250.
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/North%20Carolina/wright/titleixgeneralregulations/chapter91animals?f=templates$fn=altmain-nf.htm$q=dogs%20$x=server$3.0#LPHit1
Our favorite has to be:
91:13 Every female dog, while in heat, shall be confined in a building or secure enclosure in a manner that she will not be in contact with another dog, nor create a nuisance by attracting other animals. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the intentional breeding of animals within an enclosed area on the premises of the owner of an animal being bred.
Hey now. Are we still talking about dogs or the cougars that run the loop and hang out at Boca Bay?
If you own a dog on or bring a dog to WB, you may want to take the time to read the statues that apply. One thing we could not find in there is that starting earlier this year YOU DON"T GET A WARNING! $250 ticket. Done.
All the laws seen pretty reasonable. There's been very little dog feces on the loop this year and none on the
beach. The birds and turtle are safe from the dogs digging up their nests, and that is a great thing. But as usual, there is always one little fucked up thing that implies the law goes too far and you have to wonder how it made it on the books. It this case, it's this shit:"An owner or custodian of a dog will have on or near their person a device such as a plastic bag, or other suitable plastic or paper container, that can be used to fully clean-up and contain dog waste until it can be disposed of in an appropriate container. Such a device must be produced and shown, up
on request, to anyone authorized to enforce these ordinances."OK! NO! WHAT!? So what if the dog takes a shit two or three times before you get to the next bag holder. How many bag holders are there? There's about four or five that we know of. What if you're not on the loop? There are none. What if the cop just wants to be a dick? There's a one in two chance of that. And what does "fully clean up" mean? That's only possible about 30 percent of the time because most dogs don't have solid poop all the time. You can try to argue that you'll go find a bag
and keep it on you, but it is guaranteed that unless you are a young person or a visitor to the island this ordinance will not be an issue--and selective enforcement is the dirty part of war. But it doesn't stop there. Here's the rest:It shall be unlawful for the owner or custodian of any dog to take it off its own property limits without the means to properly remove and dispose of their dog's feces from any public or private property.
So don't even think about it. Case closed. $250.
Finally there's this doozy:
"It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog to allow the animal to be off the premises of his owner and not on a leash in the town."
Most sensible municipalities in this country add another bit to this law that says something like, "...unless the dog is under voice command or is the process of training..." Nope. $250.
So is a dog park the answer? The idea has been floated before. I might be time to start floating it again.
Next: Put It In Your Boca
