New licensing requirement serves a useful purpose for Kern County
A proposed Kern County Animal Control ordinance revision would require two things of people who own more than 10 dogs or cats, if they live in unincorporated areas outside metro Bakersfield. The ordinance revision would require them to apply for a permit to keep the animals, and to submit to annual inspections of their "non-commercial animal facilities."
In a Sept. 23 letter to the editor, "Don't throw stones," a Bakersfield letter-writer (and past shelter volunteer) made disparaging references to the proposed ordinance. He missed the mark in more than one respect. First, the ordinance is the product of the Animal Control Commission, not the department's director. While Guy Shaw has provided input to the document, work on the revision began long before he became the director.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing on the ordinance's fee schedule on Oct. 27, and the board will make its decisions Nov. 10. It is important that everyone, including if not especially the letter-writer in question, attend and speak at that first public hearing.
It is true that a permit or license, in and of itself, does not make a person a better plumber or hairdresser or automobile driver or animal companion. But by articulating specific conditions under which a person can receive a permit to engage in a particular activity, a jurisdiction is setting standards and expectations that apply to everyone who wants to do "X." And it permits the jurisdiction to penalize those who do not live up to the community's publicly stated, objective standards.
The argument that permit and license requirements punish good behavior is fallacious. If I obey the rules of the road, I will not get a ticket; if I don't, I probably will.
The letter-writer asserts that most of the dogs taken to the Animal Control Department's off-site adoption events have been "sick" with ticks and worms. That is not true. If the problem had been as rampant as the writer suggests, it would have come to light long before now. How is it that 11 months into a very successful program (over 55 dogs who might otherwise have been euthanized have been adopted at the off-site events), the "tick problem" has emerged? The answer is simple: summertime is tick season.
The department is doing its best to mitigate the problem but an occasional tick will still show up on an occasional dog. Please remember that the dogs entering the shelter do not come from pristine environments. Staff members and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure the health and well-being of all the animals in the shelter, including taking every step possible to stop the spread of diseases and parasitic infestations that new arrivals can and do bring with them.
People who are concerned about the well-being of our county's animals or who want to see for themselves how our shelter is operated can offer their time and compassion by volunteering to help. The welfare of our county's animals is ill served by bleacher critics.
I hope the letter-writer will resume his volunteer role in the near future, and that others will also join our corps of dedicated helpers.
Liz Keogh of Bakersfield is a Kern County Animal Control volunteer and the scheduling coordinator for the department's off-site pet adoption program.
