By-Laws still Questionable
This week, the Council has responded to several queries from the public about the Dog and Cat By-Law permit process:
While we are grateful to at last receive information from Council regarding the permit process, the inspection criteria and the appeal process, the following questions come to mind, and will be presented to Council:
- The Council has said there was said there was ‘extensive public consultation’. Could the Council explain what the process was, who was consulted and who was engaged? Presumably the entire process was documented, since it is a legally-binding process, and it should be a simple matter for Council to produce the evidence.
- The substance of the by-laws still presents constitutional issues which we will challenge at a later stage. Why has Council not responded to our Constitutional objections?
- Is the appeal process in the bylaws? If not, how are people supposed to know to whom to appeal? It’s not good enough that Council sends this information to the public – it has to be part of the bylaws. The same applies to the inspection criteria – they must be part of the by-laws. The by-laws are therefore incomplete.
- What mechanisms are in place to prevent spurious or malicious reports of animals on peoples’ property?
- Do the guidelines indicate the criteria people must use to ‘get rid of’ one of the companion animals? Indeed, is this something Government has the right to do, and should any civilised society accept this imperative?
- To where must these animals be sent? To surrender them to any animal shelter is to sentence them to death, since the shelters are already overflowing, and since these by-laws reduce the aggregate end-user capacity, there is nowhere else for them to go. Effectively, why should anyone be asked to do something that should be contrary to the conscience of a Nation?
Having consulted with our legal advisers, we believe the following are appropriate attitudes with regard to these by-laws:
- The by-laws are procedurally and substantively problematic. This means that there are problems with the laws from both a legal and practical perspective,
- Go through the legal process of appealing if you are declined and in the meantime do not surrender your animal companions.
- If you do apply for a permit you should indicate that you are doing so with dissatisfaction with regard to the law. Ideally, any communication with Council should include the following statement, or something similar:
‘I am opposed to these by-laws on constitutional, legal and practical grounds, but since they are in force, I am obliged to comply with your process. I will however also seek, at every step, to ensure that my rights are upheld and that the requisite proof is furnished to support any decisions made’
- Stay ‘under the radar’ – if nobody is complaining, don’t apply for a permit. Let Council approach you, and then take the steps as outlined in the last Blog post: http://hopeful.ws/2010/07/15/no-joburg-we-will-not-put-up-with-this
Lastly, please email me with any anomalies that you discover in your interaction with Council, so that we can further build our case against these by-laws. We are preparing a petition to Council to have the by-laws set aside, and in addition intend to mount a Constitutional challenge.
Best Regards
Derek
Hopeful Homeless
the councils laws will sentence our animals to further neglect and suffering.
I agree. After receiving documentation on the by-laws via email from the Council I challenged their statement about public consultation. I know there was a great deal of opposition in 2005/6, which was the first I heard about these by-laws being drafted, and as far as I can tell all protests were ignored. Of course, I received no reply.
Hi all. Tonight (Monday 26th July 2010) at 19h00. Tune in to Talk Radio 702 (FM 106) in Jozi. “Legally Speaking” is talking about the By Laws.
The response from council was completely inappropriate and vague. No documentation wa sent to me and I replied robustly to them. Since then, nothing!
As I host for SA Guide Dogs, they better give me no problems or I’ll make them look complete idiots! We can have up to 4 dogs on our property at any time. However, we are fortunate in being within the requirements.