The Buffalo Common Council will vote next week on an ordinance that aims to protect dogs being left in extreme weather outside.
The amendment would fine pet owners if dogs were left outside in conditions over 90 degrees or below 32 degrees for more than an hour. Lawmakers are putting a focus on pets who are tethered.
At a council meeting Tuesday afternoon, some residents were concerned setting a specific degree could give some dog owners an excuse to leave their pets out poor conditions outside the law.
Buffalo Common Council Member Joel Feroleto says a large of this amendment is going to have a proactive educational component.
“We’re going to prohibit a dog from being on a tether for more than one hour if it’s over 90 degrees, but we don’t want someone to think that because it’s 88 degrees or 89 degrees, it’s safe to have your dog tethered all day being outside. So there’s definitively going to be an educational component to this.”
Feroleto says this has been done in other municipalities. Syracuse, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. all have similar laws already in place.
But with fines starting at $250, some residents are concerned the new law could micro-manage a problem that they feel doesn’t need additional legislation.
“The animal owner has to deal with an animal control officer,” said Anne Perry who lives on Parkside Avenue. “Dealing with any kind of authority isn’t pleasant at times even if the person is being very professional.”
Perry feels the amendment needs more work. Feroleto said they will revisit it this week before voting on it next Wednesday.
“If people are concerned about neighborly disputes, I would not be concerned about that. At the end of the day, the enforcement has the ability to use discretion on this,” Feroleto said.
Feroleto added they are working with the city clerk’s office. People who have dogs are licensed with the city, so they’ll be looking to do outreach when people register their dogs.
Erie County SPCA President Gary Willoughby says they want to use this as a pilot project before eventually branching into suburban communities.
“We started our work way back in 1867 in Buffalo. They were our first partner. Buffalo was the second city in the United States to have an animal welfare organization in its midst. So we felt this had to be the place to start,” Willoughby said.
The Erie County SPCA averages a little under 300 cases a year with only two to five percent of them resulting in the animal being seized.
Willoughby said many people simply don’t know the danger of leaving your dog out in more extreme temperatures.
“Maybe they even have decent housing, but it’s an area where the wind is getting them really badly,” he said. “Our officers are trained and they know the right way to do things so they can work with them. Same thing with the tethering. If we can offer them potentially a better collar then what they have right now. Sometimes if there is economic reasons why that’s the only thing they have or that chain is too short, maybe we can help them get something a little bit better for them. We are here to work with them.”
If the amendment is passed next Wednesday, the law will go in to effect 10 days after.
