There should be no limit on common sense

From todays CBC website

SPCA seizes 89 cats and dogs from squalid conditions in Guysborough Co.
Last Updated: Thursday, June 25, 2009 9:57 AM ATCBC News
RCMP and Nova Scotia SPCA officers seized 89 cats and dogs Wednesday from two Guysborough County homes owned by a mother and daughter after receiving dozens of complaints.
The animals were taken to the SPCA’s Dartmouth shelter to be checked by a veterinarian and many will be put up for adoption.
SPCA officers had to don gas masks to seize 24 dogs and 40 cats from one small home in Port Felix owned by Christine DeYoung because the ammonia levels from animal urine were so high. They also seized about two dozen cats from her daughter's home.
"It’s a mess, it's a real mess," SPCA provincial investigation officer Roger Joyce said Wednesday.
"A lot of people don't realize it because they are living in it. They just think it's a normal day, but when you or I go near the door and the smell gets to us, it just about knocks you over."
He said this appears to be a case of "animal hoarding" — the women collected the animals over a period of time and didn't have the money to spay and neuter them.
Christine DeYoung cried as she watched the officers take her animals away, and said that losing her oldest dogs is like losing family.
"I only had two dogs and then they got together and they had pups and they kept multiplying. So, I didn't know what to do with them," she said.
DeYoung said she couldn't afford to spay and neuter them, but she said she fed them well and she thinks they are healthy.
"What am I supposed to do with them? Drown them? If you took them and drowned them, that’s a crime, too. So what could you do?" she said.
Joyce said DeYoung and her daughter refused to give up any of the animals, so the SPCA and RCMP got warrants to take the cats and dogs away.
"We came down to try and work with the lady and try and get some of them away from her. And she didn’t want to work with [us]," Joyce said.
"It has just been an ongoing problem for years down here between the SPCA and this lady."
Joyce said the SPCA doesn’t believe DeYoung and her daughter were deliberately cruel to the animals, so it is unlikely charges will be laid against them.
DeYoung will be allowed to keep two of her most beloved pets, he said.
Several of the comments posted for the story suggested setting limits on the number of pets permitted for individual households. Would that solve the problem? Not even close. What would be the problem?

• coming out of the gate is the obvious increase in cost to municipalities for the increased AC presence required to enforce these limits
• estimates vary, but everyone agrees that not all pets owned in any municipality are licensed as it is. Number limits further discourage people from licensing as the numbers can be cross checked
• numbers have absolutely no relationship to the nuisance to the community. One dog that barks all night, or runs at large, can create a greater nuisance than a well behaved and properly cared for multi pet household
• number limits contribute to dog and cat deaths by causing pets to meet an uncertain fate at the hands of AC when they are seized
• number limits encourage 'clandestine' ownership that doesn't engage in visible activities. This can range from unsocialized animals to pets that do not get the vet care they should. And last, but very definitely not least
• number limits place unnecessary restrictions and hardships on both reputable breeders and all rescue groups and shelters. (The need for legislation governing breeders is a separate rant for another day) Foster homes are the lifeblood of animal rescue ..... which is already overburdened without the additional animals that number limits would put at risk.

Number limits do not create safer or healthier communities. Instead, they have a negative impact that fails to address any of the underlying issues. There are more effective options, most of which involve taking a proactive approach by:

• the passage and enforcement of the strict nuisance laws, such as they have in Calgary, http://network.bestfriends.org/news/postdetail.aspx?np=34217
• establishing a mediation process as a first step to resolve neighbourhood conflicts about animals.
• making obedience training mandatory for nuisance law violators
• implementing free responsible dog ownership workshops and mailouts in all municipalities, with complementary information on municipal websites ( I know that every animal welfare website, including the homeless site, has that info already, but sadly that it often "preaching to the choir" and passes under the radar for many good folks..

In unresolved and/or ongoing nuisance situations where cruelty wasn't specifically involved, mandatory community service with a shelter or rescue group could have a positive impact.

At the end of the day, picking the simple, knee jerk solution is never the path to success. Its never proved effective with BSL. Nor will it work with animal hoarding. While research into animal hoarding is still in its infancy, the unvarnished truth is that without professional treatment, hoarders have a 100% chance of reoffending. Animal hoarding is a complex compulsion that often coexists with other issues. We wouldn't expect an anorexic to heal themselves by taking away the mirrors and the weight scale... so we shouldn't expect number limit laws to prevent animal hoarding.

What time is it? Its always time to resist the urge to find a simple solution for such a tragically complicated issue.