Calvert County reviews sweeping animal ordinance updates covering licensing, tethering, 'reckless owner' penalties

Calvert County public safety staff presented proposed, wholesale revisions to Chapter 7 (Animals) of the Calvert County Code of Ordinances at the Board of County Commissioners work session on April 8, asking the board for feedback and authority to advertise the draft for public hearing.

The changes, prepared by the Department of Public Safety’s animal control and shelter staff, would add new commercial and owner-license categories (including an “animal fancier” license for individuals owning six or more dogs, cats or rabbits), require written disaster/contact plans for licensed facilities, set containment and photo requirements for animals designated potentially dangerous or dangerous, restrict wireless/electric fences as the sole form of containment, and create a “reckless owner” designation for repeated ordinance violations that could bar someone from owning animals for up to four years.

Deputy Director April Coleman, representing the Animal Control and Shelter divisions, said the rewrite is intended to modernize language that dates to 2008, reflect the integration of shelter and control functions into the Department of Public Safety, and align county rules with contemporary animal welfare expectations. “The proposed ordinance update is about more than just policy. It’s about progress we have made as a county,” Coleman said.

Why it matters: staff told…