Pets

A Column of the Day article entitled, "Pets must all wear collars when outside" appeared in the St. Augustine Record in November 2009. It was written by Deputy Joe Bowen of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. In case you did not see it in the St. Augustine Record, the information contained in this article is worthy of repeating for the benefit of all our neighbors in Treasure Beach. Q. Could you do a column on laws pertaining to pets, especially leash laws, picking up after your animal and dangerous dogs? A. According to St. Johns County Code/Sec. 4-10: Any person or legal entity who owns, is in charge of, is responsible for, or is in control of any dog or cat shall not allow or permit such dog or cat to enter upon any public or private property within the unincorporated area of St. Johns County (note: incorporated areas, such as the City of St. Augustine and the City of St. Augustine Beach, have their own codes and ordinances), unless such dog or cat is wearing a collar. The collar must contain or have attached thereto the dog or cat owner's name and telephone number and an updated rabies inoculation tag. Also, Ordinance Number 2001-19 of the St. Johns County Animal Leash Law requires all dogs and cats to be under the control of a person by leash, cord, chain or other restraint whenever the pet is within the unincorporated area of the county. (Yes, cats are now part of the leash law). On the beach, pets are only permitted in designated day-use areas. All pets must be kept on a hand-held leash that is 6 feet or shorter and be well-behaved at all times. Pet owners are required to pick up after their pets and properly dispose of the droppings. Currently there is no specific ordinance for unincorporated areas of St. Johns County about the "animal scooper law" other than on the beaches. However, most homeowner associations have some type of regulation about picking up after pets. Under 767.10 Legislative Findings "Dangerous Dogs," the State of Florida declares dangerous dogs an increasingly serious and widespread threat to the safety and welfare of people and domestic animals because of unprovoked attacks. Such attacks are in part attributable to the failure of owners to confine and properly train and control their dogs. "Dangerous Dogs" applies to any dog that, according to the records of appropriate authority: Has aggressively bitten, attacked or endangered or has inflicted severe injury on a human being on public or private property. Has more than once severely injured or killed a domestic animal while off the owner's property. Has been used for the purpose of dog fighting or is a dog trained for dog fighting. Has, when unprovoked, chased or approached a person upon the streets, sidewalks or any public grounds in a menacing fashion or in apparent attitude of attack, provided that such actions are attested to in a sworn statement by one or more people and dutifully investigated by the appropriate authority. On the subject of pets, remember that Florida has a warm climate and pets will be strongly affected by hot weather. Never leave a pet in a parked car, even if the windows are open. Ten minutes could be too long on a hot day - by then, the temperature inside the car could reach 160 F, which is hot enough to cause a dog to suffer heat stroke. Pets don't perspire as people do. They cool themselves by panting. With only very hot air to breathe, a pet could suffer permanent brain damage. Pets might want to go for the ride, but sometimes it's much kinder to leave them at home with plenty of fresh, cool water in a climate-controlled residence. Note: If your animal is overcome by heat exhaustion, immediately soak it down with water and take it to a veterinarian as quickly as possible. The St. Johns County Sherriff's Office's bi-monthly question and answer column, "Ask Deputy Joe," is available to anyone interested in asking him a question. Call Deputy Joe Bowen at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at 810-6668 and leave your question on the answering machine, or e-mail jbowen@sjso.org.