Legislative panel’s attention turns to cats and dogs

AUGUSTA – Bruce Savoy, training officer for the Maine Animal Control Officers Association, on Tuesday told members of the Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee that cats have surpassed dogs as the nation’s No. 1 pet.

Along with that, he said, cat problems have become the No. 1 complaint.

The committee dealt with both cats and dogs Tuesday as it tabled a cat trespassing issue and came down hard on roaming dogs.

Savoy said a proposal before the committee, LD 139, to remove cats from the state’s animal trespass laws would “make our job harder.” He said one shelter in southern Maine accepted 1,947 cats last year; 46 percent were strays.

When it comes to cats attacking bird feeders and defecating in gardens and children’s play areas, Savoy said, “Don’t people have a right to be safe and undisturbed at their own homes?”

LD 139 was proposed by Rep. Monica McGlocklin, D-Embden. She said last year’s sweeping overhaul of the state’s animal trespass laws included terminology referring to “all animals.”

If this were interpreted to include cats, “this is unfunded and impossible to enforce,” McGlocklin told the committee.

She was the only witness in favor of the proposal, however. Kirsten Hebert of the Maine Municipal Association said such a mandate costs municipalities money with no return. “We are hearing that cats in Dumpsters, hanging around restaurants, are creating big problems,” she said.

When an animal control officer in Wayne removed 125 feral cats from a mobile home park and placed them in a shelter, it was the town that picked up the tab, said Hebert.

Several committee members noted that no matter what the animal trespass laws say at the state level, municipalities can write stricter regulations. Even the animal welfare division of the Department of Agriculture weighed in against removing cats from the legislation.

“We support the municipalities in their efforts to control animals,” said director Shelley Doak. She cited negative impacts on the cats’ surroundings and health issues, as well as restitution issues in court cases.

Members of the Agriculture Committee agreed to table the cat trespass issue and combine it in the next few weeks with a large group of other animal welfare laws being proposed to the committee.

Also on Tuesday, a bill to increase the fine for allowing a dog to roam was increased substantially for repeat offenders. After hearing from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, Savoy and several other proponents, the committee agreed to keep the fine at $50 to $250 for first offenders but to increase it to $100 to $500 for subsequent offenses.

“We need to establish a range,” Sen. Marge Kilkelly, D-Wiscasset, said, “that will allow judges to choose the appropriate fine. This will send a clear message that we are taking this law seriously.”

Savoy, who favored the move, admonished the committee that the offense is civil in nature, not criminal, and ACOs across the state are unable to collect the fines once they are levied.

“You could raise the fee to $1,000 and the judge will look at us and say, ‘Good luck collecting it,'” said Savoy. “It is time the Legislature looks at further action regarding failure to appear or pay on any animal control charge,”

Savoy said 80 percent of all animal control convictions remain unpaid. “There are no ramifications,” he said.