By PETE KALIINER
Special to the Daily Planet
Pete Kaliner is the host of a daily radio talk show on Asheville’s WWNC (570-AM) that airs from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. This column features posts from his daily blog.
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The following was posted March 6:
n early January, the Democratic majority on the Buncombe County Commission rammed through a new set of animal control regulations.
It expanded the definition of “neglect,” mandated socialization and exercise, and issued minimum shelter requirements for horses and other equines.
Shortly after the rules were adopted, some problems emerged.
From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Among those protesting the newly passed requirement for a three-sided shelter are the state’s main horse association, a student who uses donkeys to protect sheep and the county’s own horse veterinarian. The rule puts an unnecessary cost burden on owners and could even result in more horses being abandoned, they said.
Beverly Hargus, a Flat Rock veterinarian who contracts with the county to care for horses at its shelter in Black Mountain, said she wasn’t approached before the new rules were passed last month.
“We don’t need to restrict them to a shelter that is not a natural thing for them,”Hargus [said].
But don’t worry!
The same Democratic Commissioner — Ellen Frost — who pushed it through without consulting the county vet or the state Horse Council, vowed to fix it.
“It was great to get all the public comment. It was really, really good feedback...we hear what people said and we will take that to heart.”
But Commissioner Miranda DeBruhl, who along with the two other Republican commissioners voted against all the animal rules, called them “a complete mess” and said they should be suspended and possibly repealed.
“We should all be embarrassed that such a poorly crafted ordinance ever passed in the first place and that’s why I have worked so hard to delay this action until the experts could weigh in,” she said.
And don’t worry!
Commissioner Frost said “... the rules don’t apply to horse owners with farm status, though she wasn’t clear on the details.”
Although that turned out to be false.
But don’t worry!
Frost said “... animal control officers use a great deal of discretion and don’t use heavy-handed tactics. Most of the time, they are responding to complaints, she said. “Nobody is going to get bullied,” she said.”
This was a bit of a different argument than the one Frost made a few weeks prior, as she explained the need for the tougher regulations:
Frost was a primary proponent of the rules and said the county had made great strides in terms of animal care, but more should be done.
“In 2014, there were over 2,500 calls to 911 for animal cruelty. Those were staggering numbers, and we know if we work together as a community, we can do better,” Frost said.
So, all the complaints were the reason for the new rules, but don’t worry - the new rules won’t be heavy-handed because it’s a complaint-driven system.
Got that?
This week, the commissioners re-wrote their hasty animal control rules again:
Facing that opposition, commissioners Tuesday unanimously repealed and made changes to the part of animal rules dealing with horses, donkeys and other equine livestock.
The changes eliminated a requirement for man made shelter and social interaction and allowed livestock to be given away for educational opportunities. The original rules continue to require social interaction for pets such as dogs and make it illegal to give away any other “live animal, fish, reptile or bird as a prize or as an inducement to enter any contest, game or other competition.”
But don’t worry!
All this just means that the process worked!
Democratic commissioners defended the process, saying it showed county elected officials were responsive to constituents.
Commissioner Ellen Frost who pushed forward the original rules and subsequent revisions said the goal was to get animal neglect “on the front page. We accomplished that.”
“We might stumble along the way, but we fixed this. I don’t think trying could ever be called an embarrassment or a mess.”
Ram through a set of un-vetted rules that experts say are more harmful than helpful just to get news coverage!
Brilliant strategy!
From the Mountain Xpress:
“We don’t want to make mistakes,” said Commissioner Holly Jones, but mistakes are bound to happen. “But what is more important in life is that we listen to each other,” listen to members of our community, and strive to “make things better.”
Commissioner Miranda DeBruhl said she hopes the board continues to revisit this and other ordinances in an ongoing effort to improve the conditions of local animals — with the bigger picture of facilitating communication to create a stronger Buncombe County.
“I promise two things to you,” Jones said. “We will listen to you, and we will make mistakes. … But we will make them right” in the end.
It’s good to hear of this newly discovered devotion to listening to people. Perhaps if they had listened to their Republican colleagues back in January they could’ve avoided all of this.
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