Zoning Compassion

Zoning laws play a significant role in how communities are shaped. Their regulatory function often aims to preserve property values or keep residential areas quiet and clean. However, in this article, I'll be focusing on a significant and frequently overlooked impact of zoning laws on canines and the animal shelters that care for them.

In particular, I'll be examining how land use laws influence canine well-being, from shelter accessibility to the availability of green space, alongside the role of federal regulation, such as the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Despite the AWA's multiple amendments since 1966, it doesn’t always align with canine causes, prompting further consideration of opportunities for future reform.

Positive and Negative Effects

At their core, zoning laws dictate where different types of activities (e.g., commercial, residential, industrial, or agricultural) can take place. There are two specific types of zoning laws to hone in on when it comes to land use policies and their canine consequences:

Open Space Zoning

Open space zoning designates land to remain undeveloped or minimally developed. This can include parks, nature reserves, and agricultural lands. The goal is typically to preserve the natural environment, prevent urban sprawl, and provide public recreational space(s).

This can offer vital opportunities for dogs to exercise and play, yet in many areas, it’s not truly open and accessible to pet-friendly uses. For example, green space may be heavily regulated, restricted to human recreation, or subject to leash laws, making it harder for dog guardians and shelter programs to access land that supports canine care and health.

Along these lines, the benefits of open space extend to humans as well. Studies have demonstrated that an increase in open space can lead to physical and mental health benefits, and even keep you feeling younger!

Studies have also connected a 25.6% increase in exercise to green spaces. Broadly, for dog guardians and animal shelters alike, this human-animal connection to green space is essential to promoting community, longevity, and mobility.

Density Zoning

Density zoning limits overcrowding in neighborhoods by regulating how many residential or commercial units can exist within a certain area. It can also affect how many animals a shelter is allowed to house, how close shelters can be to residential areas, and whether new facilities can be built in the first place.

In other words, for dogs and shelters, density zoning can cut both ways. In lower-density areas, fewer residents may mean fewer abandoned or surrendered pets and reduced stress on local shelters.

Conversely, in higher-density urban areas, where the need for accessible animal shelter services is greatest, land-use regulations often limit the establishment of new shelters due to concerns about noise, sanitation, traffic, etc.

This kind of layered regulation often brings logistical hurdles in the form of setback requirements (i.e., rules that dictate how far buildings must be from property lines or adjacent structures). Mandated property setbacks can significantly limit how shelters are designed or expanded, especially on smaller lots of land.

Opportunities for Improvement

Opportunities for improvement vary, whether it’s improving local zoning laws or improving shelter structure. At the local level, outdated zoning ordinances can be revised to better support shelters and the communities they serve.

One key area of opportunity is to focus on broadening permitted uses, and the number of animals allowed because 1) zoning laws are going to mandate where different types of animal-related activities are and aren’t allowed, and 2) zoning laws often place limits on the number of animals allowed per property based on species or total weight.

While these rules are typically designed to prevent overcrowding, they can inadvertently restrict shelters from scaling their care models or accepting animals in emergencies, potentially leaving many canines without a shelter.

Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act, signed into law on August 24, 1966, sets standards for compassionate care of certain animals, excluding birds, rats, mice bred for research, and farm animals. Its purpose is to protect animals, including canines, from inhumanity, neglect, and maltreatment. This includes the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.

For shelters, the AWA’s most direct impact comes through its five-day holding period, which requires animals to be held for a minimum amount of time before being adopted, transferred, or euthanized. This standard provides a basic window for reunification with guardians or evaluation for adoption, but it is often shaped or superseded by state and local regulations.

For instance, the state regulations in Illinois differ from the framework provided by the Animal Welfare Act in scope and authority. Unlike the federal law, which operates under limited constitutional authority (the U.S Constitution doesn't mention animals), state statutes address a broader range of animal-related concerns, from liability and criminal prohibitions to multi-jurisdictional coordination. This creates a complex, overlapping legal framework that can vary widely across state lines.

Next Steps In The Series

In this multi-part series, we are going to be focusing on the ups and downs of land use laws and how they intersect with animal welfare. Specifically, we will spotlight the real-world consequences of these regulations and how animal shelters have changed over time by:

• Interviewing local shelter directors about the challenges and creative workarounds they’ve used to stay compliant while meeting the needs of their animals.
• Speaking with local policymakers about balancing community interests, public health, and humane animal care.
• Highlighting dog guardians and fosters who’ve felt the impact of these policies firsthand, whether through housing restrictions, park access, or adoption hurdles.

These ongoing conversations will help illustrate not only the constraints of current policy but also allow us to revisit restrictive definitions and thresholds with input from animal welfare professionals that could make zoning laws a more humane and effective tool rather than a barrier.

As a canine guardian myself, I can confirm that animal shelters have changed in recent years, and I am eager to further investigate and elucidate the comprehensive impact zoning laws have on broader animal welfare trends.

For more on animal rescue and welfare, check out our interview with Jacob Lloyd, the Founder of the Animal Welfare Investigations Project (AWIP).