[ SHOWGSD-L ] Pittston, PA - Considers Pet Ordinance

  • From: "Ginger Cleary" <cleary1414@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "Showgsd-L@Freelists. Org" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 07:50:11 -0400

-----Original Message-----


http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16983345&BRD=2185&PAG=4
61&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

Pet limits coming to Pittston
BY JOE SYLVESTER
STAFF WRITER

07/29/2006
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PITTSTON - City officials don't want Pittston going to the dogs - or any
other household pets. So they plan to collar residents who breed a personal
menagerie.

City Council is considering an ordinance to limit pet owners to three pets
per household. The ordinance, which council may adopt on Aug. 16, also would
make pet owners responsible for pets that defecate in neighbors' yards, bark
uncontrollably or are otherwise a nuisance.

It has made some pet owners sit up and take notice, but officials promise
they aren't about to start knocking on doors asking to count pets, said
Councilman Joseph McLean.

"It's something we're going to have to work through and clarify," said Mr.
McLean, who has received a few calls questioning the pet limit.

The city will base enforcement on complaints, he said.

"I got a call from a woman with four cats and she asked, 'What cat do I get
rid of?'" Mr. McLean said. "If Mrs. Smith has four cats in her house, we're
not going to go tell her, 'You have to get rid of Fluffy.' The average
homeowner has two, three, four dogs. As long as they're well-kept, we're not
going to bother them."

Mayor Joseph Keating also didn't think the city would strictly enforce the
ordinance, but the city had to do something because of dogs running loose,
especially from a particular property.

It's those kinds of complaints about animals causing problems that will
bring the city code enforcement officer to the pet owner's door, Mr. McLean
said.

Pittston resident Eugene Winter, who owns a small dog and a cockatiel,
doesn't think the government should limit how many pets people can have, as
long as the animals are not causing problems.

"I don't see why they should limit how many pets you can have," said Mr.
Winter, 51. "If a person could afford to take care of the animals, I feel
they should."

But council members still have to chew on the particulars. The proposed
ordinance is subject to amendment and would not pertain to current pet
owners with more than three pets - unless they cause a problem, said city
solicitor Samuel A. Falcone Jr., who wrote the ordinance.

"This is just a rough draft," Mr. Falcone said. "I'm expecting there will be
some discussion between me and individual council members between now and
the next council meeting."

More communities have been enacting such ordinances because more people have
too many dogs and are not taking responsibility for them, said Pittston
veterinarian Inayat H. Kathio, D.V.M.

"If you live in a small house with too many animals, this is a health
issue," Dr. Kathio said.

Nearly a dozen other Northeastern Pennsylvania communities, including
Scranton and Dunmore, already limit the number of pets allowed in homes.
Archbald has the strictest law, allowing just one pet per 10,000 square
feet, said the borough's Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer E. Scotty
Lemoncelli.

The borough doesn't seek out those with more pets than the limit allows, but
uses the backing of the law when investigating complaints, Mr. Lemoncelli
said.

"People may have three or four dogs and we never had a complaint about it,"
he said. "If we get a complaint, we're there. We just had one last summer;
they got over 60 cats out of the house. You walk toward the house and you
could smell it."

It's up to the magisterial district judge to decide on a fine for violators,
but that could run up to $300, Mr. Lemoncelli said.

The state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement already enforces the state laws
against dogs running loose, dogs over three months old that are unlicensed,
unvaccinated dogs and kennel licenses, which are required for properties
that house 26 or more dogs in a given calendar year, said Mary Bender, the
bureau's director.

It's up to local municipalities to set regulations on barking dogs and to
limit pet numbers, Mrs. Bender said.

Pittston officials decided to enact a pet control ordinance, in part,
because of a property owner on Lambert Street whose Rottweiler got loose on
several occasions and ran through the neighborhood, sparking complaints,
City Clerk Ronald Mortimer said. He added, though, there have been problems
elsewhere in the city with dogs leaving messes and barking.

But Wayne Smith of 56 Lambert St., said the city is on a witch hunt. He owns
four Rottweilers and his son, Jeremy Demko, 21, who lives in the house
behind his, owns two Rottweilers and two bull mastiffs.

They breed the dogs as a hobby, Mr. Smith, 40, said. He admitted "Sam" has
gotten loose several times, but Mr. Smith has since put up a 6-foot-high
wooden fence to keep the dog in. The other dogs are in kennels in the rear
of the property.

"Now that they found their witch, they're going to make us their sacrificial
lamb," Mr. Smith said.

The pet limit, if enacted, might not affect Mr. Smith and his son, because
they already have the dogs, but he said he would fight the city if he is
cited.

"I'll be before a judge every day, because I'm not getting rid of them," he
vowed. "If they want to cite me every day, they'll have to cite me every
day."

Pet limit laws do have the support of the People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals, however.

"We do support limit laws," said Teresa Lynn Chagrin, animal care and
control specialist in PETA's Norfolk, Va., headquarters. "But it's important
that these type of ordinances have a grandfather clause. Some jurisdictions
have found it useful to allow for more animals if you purchase a special
permit."

The laws are pretty widespread, Ms. Chagrin said.

"Communities are passing them because of the growing number of hoarding
situations," she added. "Animals not cared for are really costly, monetarily
and in animal suffering."

Contact the writer:
jsylvester@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


©The Times-Tribune 2006

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Ginger Cleary, Rome, GA
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the
most oppressive. C.S.Lewis

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