Animal Control Advisory Board - Meeting Minutes February 25, 2021 - Muni.org
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Municipality of Anchorage
Animal Control Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
February 25, 2021
1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:31 p.m. by Ms. Anderson. A
quorum was present.
Members Present: Mitzi Anderson, Chair; Michelle Sinnott, Vice-Chair; Debbie
Sis; Allegra Hamer; Sandy Potter
Members Absent: Cathy Foerster, Pamela Schamber, Timothy Ebben
Staff Present: Tamiah Liebersbach, AHD; Evan Jacobs, ALPS; Laura
Atwood, ALPS
2. Minutes from the January 28, 2021 Meeting: Ms. Sinnott motions to approve,
seconded by Ms. Potter, no discussion, no opposed, minutes approved.
3. Requested Presentations:
Heather Cummings on Backyard Breeding
Ms. Cummings explains that she has a small pet training/dog training business and
moved to Anchorage in 2018. Ms. Cummings says that Anchorage needs more
effective regulation in several areas relating to dog safety. She says that backyard
breeders do not assess the temperament of the dogs they breed because they are
focused on making a profit. Aggressive dogs rarely come from ethical breeders, but
instead from backyard breeders or accidental litters. She says animal rescues also
fly dogs in from outside of Anchorage without first assessing their temperament. Ms.
Cummings states there is an oversupply problem caused by backyard breeders,
accidental litters, and rescues. She says there are not enough quality homes to take
dogs in and properly train those with bad temperaments. She says the oversupply
drives down prices of dogs and even those not qualified can afford a puppy. She
says backyard breeders produce dogs that are cheaper than well-bred dogs
because they don’t invest as much cost and time into their breeding program. Ms.
Cummings says that if puppies were well socialized at birth by knowledgeable
handlers they would have a chance at developing a better temperament.
Ms. Cummings says the 2nd problem the law needs to address is that there are no
requirements to purchase or adopt a dog. She says when dogs become aggressive
owners are not likely to seek out training to solve this problem and try taking the dog
to the dog park to socialize them. She says these are the dogs causing the most
problem off leash because they have no training or socialization and it can be costly
to rehabilitate a dog with a bad temperament. She says many dog owners will then
keep dogs cooped up or inside and the dogs will be frustrated and try to escape and
cause most noise complaints. She says the law needs to address the dog owners
that don’t properly research about or train their dogs. If fewer problem dogs wereadopted by problem owners, Anchorage would be safer. She says dogs can be
lethal weapons so dog ownership should have minimum requirements to ensure the
safety of the public.
Ms. Cummings says the third problem is that dog parks are not monitored safely and
are a risky place to take puppies. Rules are self-monitored and problem owners are
not punished or fined. She says that there are many cases where dogs have been
attacked at dog parks. Dogs who are attacked often become fearful and aggressive
towards other dogs and then need rehabilitation by a knowledgeable handler.
Ms. Cummings summarizes the 3 areas of regulations she has proposed: 1)
regulating backyard and accidental breeders, 2) develop minimum requirements for
dog ownership, 3) monitoring dog parks.
Ms. Cummings gives an overview of issues with backyard breeders. She says
reputable breeders do not breed puppies for a profit, they do it for the betterment of
the breed. She describes the many costs incurred by reputable breeders. Ms.
Cummings says that backyard breeders will kill dogs in need of too much medical
care. She says that reputable breeders also have strict requirements for potential
buyers of the puppies they produce. She says they never sell a dog to a home that
is not as good as the one they are providing. Ms. Cummings says that breeders are
often somewhere between being the best type of reputable breeder and a backyard
breeder, that there is not a clear delineation between the 2. She says that many
reputable breeders are also involved in dog rescue. Ms. Cummings says reputable
breeders only produce litters when they have the ability to properly care for and
socialize all the puppies. She says backyard breeders often sell puppies to
unqualified buyers online. Ms. Cummings says most online websites don’t require
the breeders to be registered. She says buyers should be able to lookup whether
breeders have their kennels registered with the City. She recommends the City
should inspect kennels and fine those that are not in compliance. She says the fines
and kennel registration fees would cover the cost of additional enforcement.
Ms. Anderson mentions that Title 17 does have an animal litter license for up to 3
litters and a commercial facility license for over 3 litters.
Ms. Sinnott asks Ms. Cummings to clarify if her main concern is that dog aggression
stems from backyard breeders.
Ms. Cummings says that when looking at public safety issues, dog aggression is the
main concern, but if looking at animal rights issues, then the condition of the kennel
is important too.
4. Persons to be Heard:
None.
5. Standing Reports:Anchorage Animal Care and Control (AACC) Monthly Report and Public
Outreach
Mr. Jacobs reports that:
AACC intakes are down about 150 from 2020. AACC took in 363 animals in
January 2020 and in January 2021 they took in 214. Percentage claimed is similar
to 2020 and adoptions are up.
Spay/neuters are down a little bit. They are now able to spay/neuter dogs and hope
to do more dogs.
Animal bites are down significantly. In January 2020, there were 38 bites, this year
there were only 23. Calls for service went up by 30 from last year.
Ms. Atwood reports that:
January was a quiet month. 1 news story with Alaska News Source about 12 rabbits
for adoption. 9 of the rabbits were adopted out in a few days.
The pet food bank assisted 62 households with dog food, cat food, or kitty litter.
AACC also shared pet food with the Normandy Project and Alaska SPCA food bank
because AACC had so many donations.
Virtual school presentations: 6th grade class at Rogers Park Elementary on the
human/animal bond. Tudor Elementary 2nd grade class, which was a
question/answer format.
Social media was a little slow. Highest engagement was 8%. 158 new Facebook
followers and 54 new Instagram followers.
Ms. Anderson asked if AACC is accepting donations.
Ms. Atwood says that AACC is accepting donations and they can be dropped off at
AACC.
7. Committee Reports:
a. Off-Leash Dog Area Committee – (Cathy Foerster)
No report as Ms. Foerster was absent.
b. Title 17 Review Committee – (Michelle Sinnott)
Ms. Sinnott reports that:
Committee is diving into all the public comments received on the leash law
revisions. Looking at 2 main items: removing e-collar as a substitute for a leash
and the multi-use trail issue. Committee discussed how process of proposedchanges has raised a lot of questions around what the existing law is. Based
on feedback from AACC and Municipal attorney, the existing leash law does
not allow people to bike, ski, run, walk with a dog off-leash. The language has
been very challenging for AACC to enforce. Committee will be discussing the
multi-use trail language at the next Title 17 meeting.
Ms. Potter mentions a big concern she has heard is people are concerned
about definition of off-leash and not being allowed to have dogs off-leash in
residential areas. People are concerned that it would mean they couldn’t have
dogs off-leash on their private property.
Ms. Sinnott clarifies the code applies to public places, not private property, so
the residential area is just the public places in those areas (cul-de-sacs,
sidewalks).
8. AHD Staff Reports:
Ms. Liebersbach reports that:
She will be out of the office for the March ACAB meeting, but here for the Title 17
meeting. Nick Ullery will be at the meeting and DeeAnn Fetko will be sitting in for
Ms. Liebersbach.
Currently working with Legal and the Assembly’s legal counsel on the protective
custody bond code change that had been previously proposed. Working on the
concerns raised by the Assembly’s legal counsel and finding a path forward to get
the change back in front of the Assembly.
Working with AACC to see if a collaboration can be set up with Parks and
Recreation’s Trail Watch program. Trail Watch volunteers are trained to identify
different issues on the trails and then report issues they find. Trail Watch
volunteers could be trained on additional animal related topics in order to leverage
the existing resource rather than AACC creating a separate program.
9. Old Business: None.
10. New Business: None.
11. Persons to be Heard on Meeting Topics:
Anne Jensen shares that she is still against the removal of electronic collars as a
leash. Ms. Jensen says that over 20 years of being on the trails she has only had 4
negative interactions with unleashed dogs and would never expect a change in code
based on those very rare experiences. Ms. Jensen says that to change the way
people enjoy the trails based on few instances isn’t reasonable. Ms. Jensen says
there are miles of trails dedicated to ski only, but only a few trails designated as off-
leash areas. She says requiring someone on a bike to be leashed to a dog will
cause tons of accidents and most bikers would rather dodge a dog rather than a
person attached to a dog.Ms. Anderson mentions that we should remember that people don’t call in
complaints every time there is a problem with off-leash dogs, so the number of
complaints doesn’t reflect everything. She says everyone’s experiences matter and
the Board wants to find the balance.
Patrick Sullivan shares that he is a long time and extensive user of multi-use trails
in Anchorage and is concerned about proposed changes to leash law. Mr. Sullivan
says that one issue is displacing dogs and their owners from large Municipal
parklands to small off-leash dog parks which are a place where conflicts occur. Dog
parks are saturated and not able to accommodate huge volume. Mr. Sullivan says
the change will cause a lot more people to ski and bike with their dogs on leash
which can make the trails much more dangerous than they are now. Mr. Sullivan
says it is important to think about how current law is being put into action by
Anchorage residents and that they assume if they are skiing or biking they don’t
have to have dogs on leash, so the revisions would be a major change. He says
that one of his biggest concerns is that it will be very difficult to enforce, many people
will disregard it, and this will cause more conflicts on the trails that would degrade
the sense of community on the trails. Mr. Sullivan recommends that we tighten the
leash laws on paved trails but allow people to have dogs off leash on unpaved trails.
Cheryl Fugelstad shares that she does not believe there is enough data to show
there is a problem. Ms. Fugelstad says that removing the e-collar option will only
punish those who are already following the rules. She says enforcement and
education of what it means to control your dog are what is needed. She says having
the dog in control is the most important whether you are using an e-collar or a
physical leash.
12. Informational Items:
a. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Title 17 Review Committee will be
March 11, 2021, at 11:30 a.m. via Microsoft Teams.
b. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Animal Control Advisory Board is
March 25, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams.
13. Adjournment: Ms. Sinnott motioned to adjourn and Ms. Potter seconded the
motion. There were no opposed. The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 PM.You can also read
