AIMM^NDIXJE 



rrescnLni i(ui to l.rf,lsl a 1 1 vc Study Commission 

 by Nanry Kich 

 rrosiilcnl of the North Carolinn Network for Anlmnls 

 An, .list f), 1988 



My nnnic is Nancy Kich. 1 am a u.iLivc of North Carolina and I liave lived in 

 Kalcir,h since 1'562. 1 am prcsifhiit of llie Nortli Carolina Network for Animals, which 

 is a state-wide, all-volunteer, non-jirofit orc.anizat ion with nine chapters in major 

 cities throu(;hout tlic ;'.Latf. 



On behalf of our members, 1 want to conv.'y appreciation to the Legislature for 

 havlnp, recopnJzed that there is a problem with the state's animal law and for having 

 created tins Committee to study the situation. Our members arc informed about your 

 concerns, and anxiously wait for yo\ir rtr'commendat ions . 



An important question facinf; you is whether to include' pounds under the Animal 

 Welfare Act, and we believe the answer is an emphatic "yes." At present, only 15 

 facilities in the state are covered by the Act, and these are the shelters operated 

 by Humane Societies whose very existence is for the purpose of protecting animals, so 

 theoretically these 15 sliould not even need to be in the Animal Welfare Act. 



In contrast, there are 70 facilities not included that we believe should be. As 

 a matter of historical fact, these 70 exist for the purpose of animal control, not 

 animal protection. Everything about them is militaristic. Their officials are called 

 wardens. The physical setting is a pound, as in prison, which means confinement. And 

 the Public Health Department, which has ref.ulatory authority over thrse facilities, in 

 its monthly statement forms uses the word "exterminate" when referring to the disposition 

 of the animals . 



Tlie point is that tlio context of the pound is one of power over the helpless, 

 and such [lower is f r ij-li teninj-. , particularly when it seems to be so great as to extend 

 beyond the border of one law to infringe on the rights guaranteed by anotlier. 



An example ^\^r the case of an owner whose dog and day-old pups were taken to the 

 pound when the motlier dog bit someone she thought was threatening her pups. The pups 

 were destroyed the night tliey were impounded. The motlier dog was kept without veterinary 

 care during lactation for 18 days while tlic owner feared for its life too, and finally 

 the owner was told that because his doj'. had bitten someone twice ( based on its having 

 S'oiien excited duiing rougli play with the owner's ciiildrcn and friends a year earlier) 

 the ounier wovild have to take his dog to another county and allow someone else to adopt 

 it . 



There is a regulation in ]Hiblic health law (GT. 130) requiring that impounded animals 



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