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Reported by: Helen R. Taylor With some city ordinances approaching 30 years in age, without review, Lou Best led the Planning Commission on a patient, conscientious, and often humorous path within the Animal Ordinances. Lou stated “Prohibiting everything below one quarter acres is not reasonable” and aimed to “look for inconsistencies” to clarify, eliminate, enlarge and simplify the existing ordinances.
The small number of citizens in attendance participated spontaneously, and the Planning Commission Members welcomed their input. Lou quoted one section that stated “It is not lawful for any person to harbor or keep a lost or stray animal” that effectively created many well-intentioned lawbreakers. Another section read “A wild animal is any animal not commonly domesticated” that effectively makes criminals out of many children who adopt unusual animals as pets.
There were several discussions about the number of cats that were permitted, and the group decided to accept the existing number of 9 cats and 3 dogs per household. Then the question came up about proper licensing of all cats, and what constituted maintenance.
While considering the “Cruelty” section in the ordinance, Dale lamented, “The biggest cruelty to animals is to have them in small areas with no food.” Unfortunately, it is not possible to legislate common sense, one of the attendees mentioned. Citizen Lynn Bernhard expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the Planning Commission to “Look for more reasonableness in these Ordinances.” He believed these forthcoming revisions will enable some of the younger families, who can not afford larger acreage, to participate in the rural life experience. This being a big reason why many of them have relocated to Farr West City. |