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Community Corner

Pol Balks at Dog Law

Two new pieces of legislation mean changes for dog owners.

Dog owners around Bayside are yapping about two new City Council bills.

Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr. sponsored dog protection measures to make tying up a dog for more than three consecutive hours in a 12-hour period illegal.

The same law prohibits owners from using tethers that are too heavy or too easy to choke. The bill also requires shelter, food and water to be provided to a dog if it’s restrained for more than 15 minutes.

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Penalties include a fine of up to $250 for first time offenders, as well as three months in jail or a fine of up to $500 for repeat offenders.

“You shouldn’t have to tie a dog up,” said resident Phil Ingerson, who was walking in with his pooch, Kahlua. “It’s animal cruelty. Why should you have to tie a dog up for three hours?”

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A second piece of legislation, increasing a dog registration fee from$11.50 to $34 if the dog isn’t spayed or neutered, passed with a vote of 41-7. The bill’s advocates say that it will prevent overbreeding. Great Dane breeder and City Council Member Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, shakes his head at the bill. 

“New Yorkers who choose to adopt unaltered animals from the pound now have to pay more for their compassion,” Halloran said in a statement, adding that only 20 percent of the City’s 400,000 dogs are actually registered. 

Halloran and the American Kennel Club intend to draft a bill that will fight overbreeding, while not further taxing citizens.

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