If you caught this paper or if you missed it, there is a good deal you were not told about the story. So we are going to fill in the holes for you.
Here is the crux of the story.
Sec. 3-18. Animals in enclosed vehicles.permanent link to this piece of content
(a)
It shall be unlawful to leave any animal in a vehicle without the benefit of air conditioning when the outside temperature reaches eighty (80) degrees fahrenheit or greater.
(b)
Any person who confines an animal in an unattended vehicle so as to cause the animal to suffer from heat stress, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The animal control officer or other officer shall have the authority to remove any animal found in an enclosed vehicle that appears to be suffering from heat stress. The animal shall be provided immediate veterinary care. The animal owner or custodian shall be responsible for all expenses incurred during the removal of the animal or its subsequent treatment and impoundment.
(c)
In the event that the person responsible for the violation cannot be ascertained, the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by Chapter 6 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered owner was the person who committed the violation.
(Ord. of 7-1-2008(1), § (2); Ord. of 2-5-2013(1))
That's the entire story inside the paper. It came out after we brought up the following with a number of county officials.
Now what is interesting here is that a local ordinance can not supersede state code nor Federal Laws. According to everything we have looked up, neither the local government nor the state government can regulate vehicle manufacturers and what is required in a vehicle. So we see Gloucester thinks it can supersede state and Federal rules?
Here is a copy of an email we sent to the Sheriff's department.
Greetings;
We want to help. Since we can not find any State codes that are equal to Gloucester County AC Section 3-18, we have started a campaign to help get this to both the State and Federal Government. We have contacted the State Attorney General asking him to look into getting state codes created to fall into compliance with our county ordinance. We have also contacted Congressman Rob Wittman and Senator Mark Warner as well as President Obama asking that they get together and create laws to get into compliance with Gloucester County.
The following is exactly what we sent out to the above;
Greetings (Addressed to the person in question);
I am wondering why I am unable to find a state code or Federal Law that is in compliance with a Gloucester County, Virginia Ordinance, Animal Control Ordinance 3-18.
Sec. 3-18. Animals in enclosed vehicles.permanent link to this piece of content
(a)
It shall be unlawful to leave any animal in a vehicle without the benefit of air conditioning when the outside temperature reaches eighty (80) degrees fahrenheit or greater.
(b)
Any person who confines an animal in an unattended vehicle so as to cause the animal to suffer from heat stress, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The animal control officer or other officer shall have the authority to remove any animal found in an enclosed vehicle that appears to be suffering from heat stress. The animal shall be provided immediate veterinary care. The animal owner or custodian shall be responsible for all expenses incurred during the removal of the animal or its subsequent treatment and impoundment.
(c)
In the event that the person responsible for the violation cannot be ascertained, the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by Chapter 6 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered owner was the person who committed the violation.
(Ord. of 7-1-2008(1), § (2); Ord. of 2-5-2013(1))
I am asking that the state of Virginia and Federal Government work together and please look into this and get into compliance with Gloucester County, VA ordinance 3-18. Municode Link is https://library.municode.com/
To show how the state and Federal Government is in fact out of compliance with local ordinance.
Now to offer some more ideas, we are working on building an email campaign to send to all of the vehicle manufacturers demanding that all vehicles sold in the USA and Canada now be equipped with Air Conditioning as it is unknown if any of those vehicles will ever come through Gloucester County transporting an animal during temperatures above 80 Degrees and we do not need people committing criminal acts in this county.
We see several opportunities for generating revenue from this that we would like to share with you.
1.) We would recommend that deputies now go throughout the county, to each car lot and or anyone who is selling a vehicle and make sure that the vehicle has a working air conditioner. If it does not, then a fine should be imposed on the seller for each violation and the vehicle should be removed from future sale until it meets compliance.
2.) Meeting this compliance may cause some people undue burdens, so we are also recommending selling a mandatory county decal that creates a statement from the owner that the vehicle does not have air conditioning and thus will never be used for transporting animals at anytime where temperatures meet or exceed 80 degrees. Even if the purchaser does not own an animal, this decal should still be made mandatory as one never knows when they will be called on to transport any animal from a neighbor, friend or road emergency. This would take care of any issues from 1 above.
We also believe that people should be prosecuted for violations to this county ordinance. We would like to suggest that the Sheriff's office please start with 4 people we know who are violating this policy right now. Gloucester Animal Control has 4 trucks in violation of this code right now and these criminals need to be made examples of.
Please forward a copy of this email to Sheriff Darrell Warren.
If you have any comments, suggestions or more ideas, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are more than happy to help with this vital issue.
We sent out emails last night and have already heard from Senator Mark Warner. His email is as follows.
I appreciate the trust and confidence you have shown in me by contacting me with your letter in which you requested my assistance with your question regarding federal codes protecting animals.
In an effort to be of assistance to you, I have referred your letter to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). I will promptly forward any information I may receive from CRS to you.
My staff and I stand ready to be of assistance in any other matter that is of concern to you.
In an effort to be of assistance to you, I have referred your letter to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). I will promptly forward any information I may receive from CRS to you.
My staff and I stand ready to be of assistance in any other matter that is of concern to you.
Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator
All we can say at this point is that if the county government is going to make up it's own ordinances, it better be prepared for the consequences that go along with them. We will keep you up to date with this story as it progresses.
