Councilor Jim Mautino of District 6 in Tulsa is proposing changes to the current hobbyist permit which will impact area rescue groups’ ability to foster animals. Councilor Mautino also proposes to implement a private kennel license which would allow pet breeders to operate in commercial and industrial areas inside the city limits.

History
Currently, the City of Tulsa limits the number of cats and dogs any one household can possess to 5, with no more than three of such animals being dogs. (City of Tulsa Municipal Code, Title 2 § 101.A.14.) Those animals older than 6 months old must be spayed or neutered. (City of Tulsa Municipal Code, Title 2 § 101.A.17.) Under Title 2 § 117, qualified individuals may obtain a hobbyist permit to be exempt from these requirements. Those who might qualify for an exemption include individuals who show pets or who compete in hunting field trials. Rescuers are also eligible for an exemption to the number of animals allowed so they can provide temporary homes for animals in their care. Commercial pet breeders are ineligible for the exemption. While the current ordinances are not perfect and enforcement can be challenging, the current ordinances do have some merit in addressing pet overpopulation issues while at the same time providing legitimate exceptions.

Councilor Jim Mautino has recently proposed a change to these ordinances. Under his proposal, no household in a residential area would be permitted to have more than five dogs and cats combined, with a maximum of three dogs. Anyone wishing to have more dogs or cats would have to apply for a private kennel license. Private kennels would have to be located commercial or industrial, non-residentially zoned area. A provision was recently added to permit approved rescues to have up to 5 dogs but no more than 5 animals total. The hobbyist permit would be modified to allow qualified show/hunt hobbyists to have an exemption from the spay/neuter ordinance but they would be required to abide by the limitation of 5 animals with no more than 3 dogs. Read Councilor Mautino’s proposed ordinance in its entirety. It appears Councilor Mautino’s desire to change the current ordinance stem from situations in his district where hobbyist breeders are allegedly causing nuisances. Watch the Public Works meeting where Councilor Mautino explains his position.

These proposed changes present many challenges for the animal welfare community. Not only would it limit the number of animals rescuers could save if the hobbyist permit exemption was removed, it would also allow individuals to not spay/neuter their pets if they have a nationally recognized breed. Making such a broad exception to our spay/neuter ordinance could have dire consequences. In addition, Councilor Mautino’s private kennel license opens the door for pet breeders to conduct their operations in our city.

The Issues
While animal welfare advocates can certainly understand and support an effort to rein in hobbyist licensees who are not abiding by city ordinances, Councilor Mautino’s approach is extreme. In fact, the proposed changes would certainly cause unintended, additional animal welfare issues in our city.

Pet overpopulation, simply put, is a supply and demand issue. Tulsa suffers from an overabundance of homeless animals and a lack of adopters who want to bring a rescued pet into their family. TAW is an open admission shelter already struggling to deal with over 11,000 pets which enter the shelter annually. Of those 11,000 animals, approximately 65% of them will have to be destroyed, largely due to lack of space. Caring for that many animals and ultimately destroying 2/3 of them is expensive for Tulsa tax payers. At a time when Tulsa is focused on reducing shelter costs, increasing efficiency, improving community response and improving live release rates at our municipal shelter, Councilor Mautino’s proposal will have the opposite effect for several reasons:

1. The elimination of the hobbyist permit provision which currently allows rescuers to have more than the number of animals allowed per household will negatively impact animal welfare in our city.
• Most individuals involved in pet rescue already have the maximum number of pets allowed under city ordinance. Rescues rely heavily on the current hobbyist permit to enable them to temporarily house more pets so they can save more lives.
• Since most rescue groups do not have brick and mortar facilities, they rely on a network of dedicated volunteers to provide temporary homes for the pets in their care. Limiting rescue groups’ ability to foster rescued pets will increase the number of animals euthanized at our shelter.
• If rescue group foster homes are only allowed to have 5 pets, this will severely impact the number of animals which can be rescued both from TAW, as well as owner surrenders and strays. If fewer animals are pulled from TAW by no-kill rescue groups, more animals at TAW will have to be euthanized for time and space. If fewer owner surrenders and strays can be taken by rescue groups, those animals will presumably have to go to TAW where they will most likely be euthanized.
• Councilor Mautino’s proposal to eliminate the current hobbyist permit as it pertains to rescues will result in increased intake at TAW and, consequently, increased costs for the shelter. Furthermore, it will be a step backward for Tulsa in trying to improve animal welfare and shelter operations in our city.
2.  Mautino’s proposal for a private kennel license will create more problems than it solves for our community.
• Permitting private kennels in industrial and commercial areas will be an open door for breeders to do conduct their operations in the City of Tulsa.
• Permitting private kennels to conduct business in industrial and commercial areas will create health and nuisance issues in those areas, as well as create a decline in visual appearance.
• By creating a private kennel license, Tulsa would be encouraging the type of disreputable breeding we are trying to eliminate at both a state and local level.
• While certain provisions of the current ordinance may need to be addressed, at least there are measures in place to curb public nuisance issues. Rather than addressing the issues with the current ordinance, we are shifting the problem from one part of our community to another, arguably making it worse.
3. The above scenario will put an even greater strain on resources available to TAW, increasing euthanasia and further hampering TAW’s ability to respond to animal control issues.
• If the city prevents rescue foster homes from having an exception to the current household pet limit, those rescues will be limited in their ability to take in strays, owner surrenders and pull from TAW. This will increase the number of animals entering TAW as well as the number of animals which must be euthanized, increasing costs for care, euthanasia and disposal of destroyed animals.
• If we encourage breeding by allowing private kennels in industrial and commercially zoned areas, additional unwanted pets and intake at TAW will increase which in turn will lead to an increase in costs.
• A lack of the ability to enforce the current ordinance seems to be at the crux of Councilor Mautino’s issues with the hobbyist permit. While his concerns may be legitimate, the changes he proposes will have the unintended effect of contributing to pet overpopulation which in turn leads to a need for more resources. This makes it less likely TAW staff will be able to effectively perform their animal control duties and respond to community complaints for nuisance and animal ordinance violations.
• If Tulsa’s pet overpopulation problem increases, more resources will be needed to capture animals at large, house stray animals, euthanize animals due to lack of space and dispose of destroyed animals. Using additional funds for these purposes is a waste of tax payer dollars.
• Conversely, if we focused on using our limited resources to enforce current ordinances, to making effective changes to those ordinances to resolve community complaints and helping TAW decrease intake/increase live exit, we can solve issues such as the ones in Councilor Mautino’s district as well as reduce pet overpopulation.

What You Can Do
Participate in the forum on this site to contribute to the united message we will present to City Council. Also, contact your City Councilor and express your opinion about this issue. You can find the councilor for your district at www.tulsacouncil.org/district-finder/map.aspx. Ask your councilor to vote against Councilor Mautino’s proposed changes unless they are revised to not have a negative impact on animal welfare and pet overpopulation.

We must make sure the city doesn’t enact laws which will increase a problem we are already struggling to address. To go to the extreme measures Councilor Mautino is suggesting is both illogical and counter-productive to reducing pet overpopulation which in turn puts a strain on city resources. Furthermore, Councilor Mautino should not be pushing for new ordinances specifically to address a few isolated incidents in his district. Rather, input from the community is needed to ensure the new ordinances are effective, enforceable and don’t have adverse unintended consequences.