Group 7
Jennifer McReavy and Misty Walden
May 6, 1998
The problem our group wishes to address is the over population of animals, specifically
dogs and cats, in urban areas. We believe this problem needs to be addressed because of the
difficulty the Humane Society has finding homes for the numerous number of animals brought
into the shelter. We propose a policy that limits the number of dogs and cats in a household, and
that also specifies that the animal or animals must be spayed of neutered unless the owner is a
licensed breeder in a noted association. We propose a change to the law that would permit a
house only two dogs on the premises at any time. New puppies, if any, born at the house would
be allowed there for three months only. Also, there would be a limit of three cats per household.
Furthermore, any dog or cat must be fitted with a license from their local veterinarian
stating the date of the animals' last vaccinations and the phone number of the owner. Any
animal that does not have these requirements will be taken to the local Humane Society to be
kept until it is claimed and the owner will be fined. In the case that the animal is not claimed it
will follow the normal process of adoption. We hope that in the future this policy will cut down
on the number of strays in the urban areas and decrease the number of abuse and malnourishment
cases, and also decrease the number of complaints to the authorities about the problems of the
strays.
Our proposal is a city policy to reduce the number of dogs and cats a household is
allowed to have on their property. Potential allies for this proposal include the Humane Society,
representatives from Tattoo-A-Pet, and National Dog Registry. We believe these organizations
will be more than helpful in providing a significant solution to the over population of pets. We
believe organizations such as Tattoo-A-Pet and the Humane Society are effective because of the
positive effects of having a pet registered. Even the Humane Society presents their view of the
importance of controlling the pet population. There are many unwanted pets who end up being
killed because no one will claim them. Therefore, these organizations are here to prevent these
occurrences from happening. The opponents of our proposal will include trained breeders and
owners who have more than one pet. The opponents such as trained breeders disagree with this
proposal because they breed dogs in order to make a living or for other important purposes.
People who own more than one pet may also disagree with our proposal because they don't want
to spend the time or invest the money into spaying or neutering their pets. Our objective is to
persuade the city council into supporting our view. We will hold a city council meeting which
will allow the members of the council to vote whether the city should pass this proposal. After
the vote, the proposal will be passed or denied. In addition to the meeting, members from the
Humane Society and Tattoo-A-Pet will bring representatives to speak on behalf of the proposal
being given.
A city policy that limits the number of dogs or cats a household is allowed to have on
their property at any time and which establishes a means of identifying the animal in case lost or
stolen will also have specific regulations for breeders and owners. Our potential allies will be
local and nation-wide associations concerned with the over population of animals and the means
of controlling the problem humanely, and also the mayor of the city who agrees with the group's
cause and the goals it wishes to accomplish. Our opponents will be those who are concerned
about the cost and hassle of spaying and neutering of pets. Other opponents will be those people
who already own more than the number of animals, dogs or cats, the policy will allow.
We plan to have a petition for people to sign to show the number of people who support
the cause. if we are able to get a substantial amount of signatures, we will hold a meeting in a
local, well-known, public place. We will announce the time and place with flyers, radio and
television broadcasts, and with the use of other sources. Our main goal in this stage is to inform
the people of our goals and to make opponents more aware of why we want this policy.
Additionally, we want to make sure that our current supporters still understand our main purpose.
We have chosen a speaker from the Humane Society and representatives from
Tattoo-A-Pet, and National Dog Registry. At the City Council meeting we will elect a speaker to
present our proposal, a president of the group, a vice president, a secretary, and a field group to
collect specific information. This is where we will tell everyone which city council meeting we
plan to attend and the agenda for the meeting.
At the actual City Council meeting we will have our elected speaker give the presentation
and representatives of Tattoo-A-Pet, National Dog Registry, and the Humane Society speak.
The president will cover the basics of the policy and have a copy of the written policy to hand to
each city council member. The speaker will speak of t h goals and will give the data that our
field group has collected. The next representative will be from the Tattoo-A-Pet organization.
They will talk about the success and ease of having dogs and cats tattooed and registered. The
final speaker will be from the Humane Society. They will give their point of view on the policy
and then explain what they believe will be the pros and cons of the policy. Finally, they will
discuss the amount of money they will need to set up the tattooing and registering program. After
that we will only have to wait for a vote on whether the policy is appealing to the council.
In order to prevent the over population of pets, we offer this proposal to allow the spaying
and neutering of pets and to limit the number of pets one is allowed to have on their property.
First of all, in order to implement our strategy, we will need to gather sponsors from various
organizations and have the support of the city council. Secondly, we will hold a city council
meeting to discuss our views of the proposal and develop a plan of action. Thirdly, we will
present the proposal to verify any question or comment. Next, we will have a committee
hearing to allow members to respond to any comments or questions concerning the proposal.
Finally, we will take a vote to see if our proposal can pass.
Even though we have a plan of action in presenting this proposal, we will always run into
some conflict along the way. First of all, trained breeders will disagree with the proposal
because of the fact that breeders raise many pets in order to make a living. If the proposal were
to pass, the breeders would be at a loss because they would no longer be able to breed pets for
money. Secondly, some people in general would not agree with this proposal because most
people enjoy having more than one pet and they do not want to go to all of the trouble to spay or
neuter their pet because it is costly and time consuming.
In conclusion, we had some changes in our proposal as we worked through the different
stages. When we first began our proposal, we had many plans and ideas that we looked into, but
as we went about researching these ideas and plans, we realized that the city council did not
agree with all of our plans and actions. Our group had to work very hard in order to persuade
the members of the city council to understand and accept our proposal. Event though a simple
proposal may seem easy enough to handle, there is much to learn about politics and policy action.
We learned that sometimes a proposal can take some time before even being considered a
policy. Therefore, many meetings and committee hearings were required in order to establish a
decision on what to do about this proposal. Many lessons have been learned in developing the
process of this proposal.