[ SHOWGSD-L ] Martinsville IN: Council tables animal ordinance

From: "Ginger Cleary" <cleary1414@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Showgsd-L@Freelists. Org" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 00:12:27 -0400
  http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory

<http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=34721&format=ht
  ml> &story_id=34721&format=html

  Council tables animal ordinance

  More than 40 attend meeting to hear about proposal

  By Ronald Hawkins
  rhawkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

  Tuesday August 22, 2006

  MARTINSVILLE

  Martinsville's proposed animal control ordinance was tabled Monday after
the
  Martinsville Common Council heard comments from more than 20 people, a
  majority of whom objected to one element of the draft ordinance.

  In the standing-room-only council chambers, the council heard comments for
  more than an hour at the beginning of its Monday meeting. Each speaker's
  presentations was limited to two minutes. The hearing on the ordinance
came
  six months after a Martinsville resident complained about a cat problem.

  Martinsville resident Arthur Adams, who complained to the Martinsville
  Common Council in February about cats, told the council the city needs to
be
  cleaned up and that an ordinance limiting the number of dogs and cats per
  household would educate the public.

  The element of the proposed ordinance that drew the most comment was the
  section that would limit each household to three dogs and three cats.
  Council President Gary Lester developed the ordinance with the help of
other
  council members. During workshops on the ordinance, the Morgan Council
  Humane Society made presentations.

  "I think you have a good ordinance," said Erlene Sichting, Martinsville
  resident affiliated with Greyhound Pets of America Indianapolis. "But the
  limit of three dogs and three cats is a great error."

  The Greyhounds group helps retired racing Greyhounds make the transition
  from racing to becoming pets. Sichting helps rescue the dogs and currently
  has three.

  "I don't think you've addressed the rescue effort," Sichting said. "I
don't
  think you know how many animals will be done away with.

  "It's not about how many pets you have. It's about how you respond to pet
  responsibility."

  Several speakers said they regard their dogs and cats as their children.
  Some suggested the proposal be changed to allow owners who have more than
  three dogs and three cats to be grandfathered, allowing them to keep all
  their pets.

  Arthur Adams, whose complaints in February about cat problems prompted the
  development of the ordinance, called the problem a health and safety
issue.

  "Cats carry a lot of disease," Adams said. "The community needs to be
  cleaned up. You educate the public by passing the ordinance."

  Rick Nugent told the council his neighbor has 20 to 30 cats at a time. His
  car has been scratched by cats and his "yard is full of feces," he said.

  Elaine Wiley, who has 19 cats in her home, said she has rescued pets for
20
  years. She has had to rescue many of the pets because they were abandoned
or
  poorly treated by neighbors. She keeps her pets indoors.

  "It's not right to punish me," she said. "I take extremely good care of my
  animals," Wiley said.

  Council members said the city wouldn't be conducting a door-to-door census
  to determine how many pets are in each household. They said part of the
  ordinance requires two complaints from two different neighbors affected by
  the problem before the city would investigate.

  "We're only going after the ones causing a nuisance," councilman David
  Barger said. "We're not going to have cat police. We've got a lot more to
do
  than go after dogs and cats."

  Wiley said she suspected her neighbors would turn her in because they
oppose
  keeping indoor pets.

  Morgan County Humane Society President Martha Ebert said her organization
  opposes the three dogs and three cat limit. The society advocates spaying
  and neutering and has funds to help low income families pay for the costs
of
  spaying or neutering their pets.

  Councilman Doug Arthur said he'd oppose the ordinance because of the
  per-household limit. The focus should be on the responsibility of owners,
he
  said.

  Not all cats have owners because we don't have spaying and neutering and
  they reproduce in the wild, Arthur said.

  Lester said he thinks spaying and neutering is good and probably is the
  answer.

  "But enforcing that is impossible," Lester said. "The easiest way is to
have
  a number."

  The council voted 6-0 to table the ordinance until its Sept. 5 meeting.
  Lester told the council members to bring suggestions to the council's Aug.
  31 budget workshop.

  Susan Wolf

  North Carolina Responsible Animal Owners Alliance (NCRAOA)

  www.ncraoa.com

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



  __._,_.___ .

  __,_._,___

  Ginger Cleary, Rome, GA
  Proud member GSDCA and Sawnee Mtn Kennel Club
  www.rihadin.com




============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2006.  All material remains the property of the original 
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind 
are permitted without prior permission of the original author  AND of the 
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY 
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS 
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY 
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE 
PROSECUTED. 

For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx

VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues
============================================================================
[ SHOWGSD-L ] Martinsville IN: Council tables animal ordinance

Other related posts:
