by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Over a year in the making, City Council member Jerry Holland plans to introduce a revised animal control ordinance Tuesday. A holdover from his term as Council president, Holland expects the proposed legislation to quickly gain Council consensus.
“I feel we’ve got something now that everybody wanted, and I’m happy with the changes we’ve been able to make,” he said. “It’s taken a pretty long time to get to this point.”
Holland circulated a draft late last week, hoping other Council members would “take a little while to read it and absorb it.”
“I’m sure they’re going to have questions, and even though we’ll address them in the committees, I want them to have a general understanding of the bill before it is introduced,” he said.
Holland worked closely with Ernie Duffy, president of the Alliance of Responsible Pet Owners and representatives from Mayor John Peyton’s office and the City’s Neighborhoods Department on the bill.
Peyton declined comment, but Duffy said he was pleased with what he’s seen.
“I think this ordinance is going to do what it needs to do to,” said Duffy. “It’s a positive step and there are a lot of good things included in it.”
Duffy criticized an older City ordinance as being unclear and difficult to understand.
“People need to be educated,” he said. “They need to know exactly what the laws say and how they are enforced.”
Topping 80 pages, Holland’s bill addresses everything from animal cruelty regulations — a hot topic of debate earlier this year — to new pet shop requirements and increased penalty amounts for various code violations.
Additionally, Holland has made revisions to make pet owners more aware of their culpability for “nuisance control” and vaccination and licensing requirements.
“It’s very, very detailed because we were looking at a lot of different issues while we worked on it,” said Holland.
Though opting to work independently of other Council members, Holland said their questions and concerns would be welcomed.
“I just felt it would have been much more difficult to work with the Council while we were drafting the bill,” he said. “Now that it’s finished, they’ll have an opportunity to voice their concerns. I’m definitely looking forward to getting feedback and I’m open to suggestions.”
“I have no problem amending the bill as long as it works for everyone, including the animal activists and the City,” he said.
After its introduction, Holland said the bill would be referred to the Council’s Finance, Public Health and Safety and, possibly, Rules committees for further discussion.
“And if it passes, I’ve made a promise to take another look at it in a year to see what’s working,” he said. “From the beginning, it’s been about improving the system we have in place right now.”