Editorial: July 2, 2021
Don’t Fence Me In
New Jersey lawmakers Benje E. Wimberly, Yvonne Lopez and Craige J. Coughlin are proposing a bill that would require all dog owners have their properties fenced. Failure to fence your property to keep your dog contained will carry a five- to 10-year prison sentence. This is the same penalty given to child molesters, child pornography and child sexual assault. If signed by the governor of New Jersey, it would become the law of the state.
Once again, it’s the many being penalized for the few irresponsible dog owners. At best it is some attention-getting proposal that is absurd from the start. We all agree, some dogs are aggressive and it’s the owners’ responsibility to keep them under control at all times. But good fences don’t make good pet owners. Have these lawmakers thought of the financial burden this would put on dog owners? Enforcing leash laws with expensive fines would be more productive and less intrusive of people’s right to own pets. Dogs don’t vote, but dog owners do – exercise your right.
Ironically, this comes as New Jersey’s neighboring state of New York is making it illegal for insurance companies to cancel or reject homeowners insurance because of breed-specific discrimination.
Okay, Fence Me In
The United States will impose a temporary ban of dogs from 100 countries around the world starting on July 14th. This ban, which will be in effect for one year, is to prevent the spread of rabies variants that have been under control in the United States since 2007.
Of course, it begs the question: Why are so many dogs imported into the country each year? Some of the countries on the list include Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Belarus, China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan), Morocco, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Colombia, Russia, India, the Philippines, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic. As many as 100,000 of the 1 million dogs imported each year could be denied entry. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) stated that some limited exceptions would be made for service dogs and foreigners moving to the United States with their pets.
If an exception is made, it will only be for dogs that are at least six months old (validated by submitted photos of the dog’s teeth) and microchipped, with proof of rabies vaccination and titer from an approved laboratory.