Good Intentions/Bad Policy

My hometown of Fort Smith has recently passed a new ordinance banning the “transfer” of animals within the city’s corporate limits. While this generally seems like something that I would favor, after looking further into the ordinance, it appears that it is a poorly constructed public policy that will accomplish little and set disadvantaged people up for selective enforcement. I've hesitated somewhat to talk about this because several people I know, and respect deeply, were involved in passing this legislation. However, as we seek to build better laws for animals and people in our country, we must be careful about what we do. We must resist the temptation to construct punitive measures that often exempt those who need to be regulated most.

In general, the ordinance says that anyone who isn't exempted may not transfer the ownership of an animal within city limits and anyone who does transfer an animal must ensure that that animal has certain unspecified vaccines from a licensed veterinarian. The punishment for violating this new law is a misdemeanor, resulting in a minimum $600 fine, and the Fort Smith Police Department will be expected to enforce it. While this may sound good on the surface, digging deeper by looking at the exemptions shows the utter uselessness of this law.

The law, appropriately, exempts animal shelters operating under an agreement with the City of Fort Smith from the ban. However, interestingly, rescues are not listed as exempt, nor are nonprofits that do not have a contract with the city of Fort Smith. This may put local rescues or small rescuers at risk of being fined under the act. This was surely an unintentional but substantial omission and should be corrected immediately.

This law also exempts, explicitly, the top two sources of animals that need the most regulation: pet stores and private breeders. The law does not even require breeders under the exemption to be USDA licensed.

Perhaps, ironically, the most dangerous part of the law is the exemption intended to protect the underprivileged. The law allows people to transfer one animal every six months if it turns out they cannot care for the animal. Again, this is a good idea on its face. However, when you dig a little deeper, you find that it is extremely restrictive and potentially very damaging for the families of the city. Under this “exemption” a family who has an accidental litter of 6, would be able to give away or sell one of the litter, but could be faced with a fine if they gave away or sold any of the other ones. That means that this accidental litter could cost a Fort Smith family $3000. I hate to imagine the unintended consequences of families having to choose humanely transferring animals to another party versus being faced with a $3000 fine and trying to find an alternative method to rid themselves of the problem.

There is also nothing in this law that would prevent the city from obtaining the records of people who surrender to the animal shelter and then coming after anyone who has surrendered more than one animal in six months. Is that what's going to happen? Not necessarily, but it could be a way for officials to target individuals with punitive fines.

The law also requires everyday citizens to ensure that their pets are vaccinated before they are transferred but exempts the professional organizations listed above from that requirement. That isn’t very sensible.

I applaud the effort of the Fort Smith City Council and local animal welfare advocates for trying to do something to work on the significant issues that they have surrounding domestic animals in the city. However, this law is bad. It exempts the most resourced and well-off from enforcement, leaving only those who cannot obtain permits and business licenses to be punished. It does not stop the transfer/sale of animals within the city limits; it creates a punitive framework that, if it's ever even enforced, will only be enforced on the poor and underprivileged of the city. This law is trying to solve real problems, but I fear it will only create more.