by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Hoping to finish legislation left from his term as City Council president, Jerry Holland wants to bring an updated animal control ordinance before the Council as early as November.
“It’s something I had been working on last year and I felt like I needed to finish it,” said Holland, a self-described “animal lover.”
“During my term as president of the Council I just felt the previous ordinance didn’t address or clearly define certain issues — real life issues — that constituents in many of the Council districts were experiencing,” he said.
Holland began looking more closely at establishing new animal control policies after a bill was submitted by former mayor John Delaney last year.
“When I looked at it, it thought it was very restrictive in what it was asking for and the animal activists were strongly opposed to it,” said Holland of the “stringent” bill. “It just wasn’t clear on what it wanted to do.”
According to Holland, issues ranging from feral cats to no kill policies were not adequately addressed.
To reach a middle ground, Holland asked Ernie Duffy, president of the Alliance of Responsible Pet Owners, to make recommendations on what he and others in the group deemed appropriate.
In response, Duffy said the responsibility of City’s Animal Control office should be two-fold.
“It’s a delicate balance,” said Duffy. “The City should have the right to protect the public, but the animals’ safety is important, too.”
Duffy added the animal control laws should be specific and easy to understand.
“People need to be educated,” he said. “They need to know exactly what the laws say and how they are to be enforced. We need reason and guidelines. We don’t need people guessing or having different interpretations of the law.”
Holland brought Duffy’s suggestions to Laurie French of the General Counsel’s Office.
“She really worked at interpreting it and adapting it,” said Holland. “She found out what was feasible and began working on a new draft. She also addressed the lack of enforcement with some incidences we had been seeing.”
Holland estimated the final draft of the animal control bill would be nearly 70 pages when completed.
“As far as the various fines go,” he said, “I’d like to get as much input from as many of the other Council members as I can. I wouldn’t want to assess them without getting their thoughts first. That way, they’ll be more familiar with the bill when it goes into committee.”