Altoona resident urges policy change to dog license purchases

Move by city would help locate illegal kennels

An Altoona resident urged city officials Tuesday to adjust their handling of dog license purchases in order to identify illegal kennels, so the city can shut them down and thus reduce nuisance barking in neighborhoods.

As defined in the city's code of ordinances, kennels are facilities in which dogs are kept for "breeding, hunting, training, leasing, buying, boarding, sale, show, exchange or placement as pets," and they're only legal in industrial zones, according to the resident Steve Elfelt and online city records.

Illegal kennel operators that breed puppies for sale are likely able to operate "under the radar" mainly because they don't advertise publicly, but rather go through breed associations, and because they are only obligated to provide the name of the purchasers of those puppies -- and not their own names -- when they obtain the required licenses for them from the city, according to Elfelt.

If the city would also require the name of the owners of the mothers of those puppies, and the individuals who pay for the licenses, who are likely going to be the same people, there would be evidence the city needs to prosecute kennel owners for code violations, according to Elfelt.

Elfelt was told recently by a city official whose name he didn't share that there may be about 1,000 dogs housed in outbuildings in the city, he said.

Elfelt's suggestion seems like something worth following up on, according to Mayor Matt Pacifico.

Councilman Dave Butterbaugh echoed Pacifico's comment and expressed appreciation for Elfelt having come "prepared" with citations from the code of ordinances, rather than "just complaining."

A check on the situation would make sense, given that there has been at least one notable problem of the sort that Elfelt is trying to address in a residential neighborhood recently, said Councilman Ron Beatty.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.