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Task Force debates kennel licensing, recommends USDA standards for animal-unit rules
Summary
Members urged clearer distinctions between 'kennel' licenses and multi-animal permits and recommended using USDA animal-unit standards; concerns were raised that labeling kennels a business could create double taxation and zoning conflicts for properties under 11,000 sq. ft.
Members of the Deer Lodge County Domestic Animal Task Force spent a major portion of their March 26 meeting clarifying how the county should treat kennels and multi-animal permits. The group focused on whether the definition of “kennel” under MCA 6C classifies kennels as a business and could therefore expose owners to duplicate licensing and permit fees.
Task force members recommended adopting federal animal-unit standards to set space requirements beyond just cats and dogs. The minutes record a recommendation to provide supporting documentation, including USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service materials, to justify applying animal-unit calculations to other species. Carl Hamming's email noted that properties under 11,000 square feet would be ineligible for kennel designation, a point members said could simplify zoning reviews.
Kevin Hart also raised enforcement-adjacent concerns about excessive dog barking, which members said should be addressed in any permit or nuisance provisions. The group did not formalize policy language on kennel fees at this meeting; work on draft language and supporting documentation was assigned to the ordinance revision process.
