NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Breeding animals and having dangerous dogs could get more expensive if the New Hanover County commissioners approve proposed changes to animal welfare fees.
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At the commissioners’ agenda review meeting Thursday, staff addressed the county’s animal ordinances in response to recent complaints over animal safety. Proposed were cost increases for various animal fees and expansion of public safety restrictions to potentially dangerous dogs, not just dangerous dogs.
County staff said the amendments were drafted after consultation with eight community members; Commissioner Dane Scalise has been spurring the process along after facing complaints from animal welfare advocates last fall and into this year.
Many of their concerns revolve around the unregulated sale of dogs and perceived unethical practices by commercial breeders and sellers. Last fall, protestors targeted The Puppy Place, accusing it of bringing in dogs from out of state and sourcing them from puppy mills, breeding facilities characterized by quick reproduction and inhumane conditions.
However, local governments are not allowed to regulate dog breeding or commercial sales. This kind of rulemaking falls under the state’s purview, and so far it’s been pretty lax in its restrictions, ranking in bottom tier for animal protection laws, according to a 2021 report from the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
“I had hoped that we were going to be able to do more than it sounds like we’re going to be able to do,” Scalise said at Thursday’s meeting. “And I understand that there are limitations, because much of this is ultimately determined by state law, but we are, at least as county commissioners, fairly helpless to assist the public with addressing some of these concerns.”
He pointed out the public could still report concerns to the sheriff’s office directly, as it handles all animal welfare cases.
Major C.L. Smith affirmed the sheriff’s office takes animal welfare “very seriously.”
“Any calls for service that we may receive or any accusations that we may receive about animal cruelty, we investigate that as vigorously as we investigate any other type of crime or issue in New Hanover County,” Smith said.
To promote breeder responsibility, staff’s proposal increases its breeder permit fee from $20 to $150.
Some registration fees — required to be paid every year as proof of rabies vaccination — would also go up for unspayed or unneutered animals, a jump from $20 to $60. The fee would remain $10 if the animal is spayed or neutered.
The county’s redemption fee — when an owner reclaims an animal from the shelter after it is impounded — would also increase:
- First offense: $20 to $60
- Second offense: $60 to $100
- Third offense: $100 to $150
- Fourth offense: $150 to $200
- Fifth offense: $250 to $300
The euthenasia fee, charged when the county’s shelter has to put an animal down for safety reasons, would go from $40 to $60.
Additionally, county staff have proposed changes to its dangerous dog ordinance to bring them more in line with federal and state guidance. The changes allow for the sheriff to designate an appeals board to review dangerous dog determinations.
The current definition of dangerous dog includes a dog that has killed or severely injured another being without provocation and a dog trained or harbored for dog fighting.
The proposed amendments now expand the definition to include a dog deemed “potentially dangerous” by the appeals board. Potentially dangerous is currently defined as a dog that:
- Inflicted a bite that resulted in broken bones
- Killed or inflicted serious injury upon another animal when not on the owner’s property
- Approached a person not on the owner’s property in a viscous or terrorizing fashion in an apparent attitude of attack
The amendment would classify a dog as potentially dangerous if it inflicted “disfiguring lacerations” as well.
The appeals board would take up a case of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog if the owner appealed the determination made by the sheriff’s appointed two-person committee, already in place. The board would be required to hold a quasi-judicial hearing upon appeal and its decision could then be taken to Superior Court if appealed again.
The amendments also require property owners of potentially dangerous dogs to notify Animal Services within 48 hours of an address change and post at least four warning signs on their property notifying the public of the dog. Currently, this is only required of dangerous dog owners. Violation of this is listed as a Class 3 criminal misdemeanor per the proposed changes.
A penalty would also go into effect if a dangerous dog were to attack a person and cause medical injuries exceeding $100 in cost. It would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The animal ordinance amendments will be formally reviewed at the commissioner’s upcoming meeting on Monday, April 21.
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