Pet policies

By Tom Blakey

January 13, 2009 01:08 am

— Approximately 80 Norman residents attended Monday's public meeting in the City Council Chambers, scheduled by the Norman Animal Welfare Oversight Board, and joined in discussion concerning comprehensive proposed amendments to the city's Animal Welfare ordinance.
The amendments are being discussed and tweaked before being considered for approval by the Norman City Council at a council session.
Norman police Maj. Jim Maisano moderated the discussion, which garnered comments by Norman area veterinarians, breeders and pet owners.
After reviewing and suggesting changes to the city's animal welfare ordinance, the Animal Welfare Division is hosting public meetings to seek feedback and comments concerning the proposed changes.
A proposed language change that would change the division's name from Animal Control to Animal Welfare, brought collective applause from most everyone at the meeting.
Maisano said one problem Norman faces is that those businesses and residences that have kennel licenses -- 34 in all -- are only required one inspection during the application process, with no follow-up checks.
The proposed change would require a "random inspection at least once a year," Maisano said.
Discussion also included establishing a limit to the number of dogs and cats residents may own. Currently, there is no restriction to the number of cats in a household, which promotes overpopulation and the number of feral felines. Also under the proposal, anyone owning more than five cats would be required to obtain a kennel license.
"I oppose the idea there needs to be an arbitrary number of pets," said Little River Zoo director Janet Schmid. "There needs to be a standard of care that ensures animals are being cared for properly."
Proposed changes would be for the city to establish a limit of two dogs and three cats owned by each residence, if the animals were unaltered.
Having the pets neutered or spayed would allow residents to own four dogs and five cats -- possibly six cats.
Pet cats roaming free would be required to be altered and wear collars and licenses -- possibly microchips.
Such an amendment would help to promote responsible pet ownership, Maisano said.
The proposed changes also would alter the duties of Animal Welfare officers, to allow inspection of licensed kennel locations. Currently there are only four Animal Control officers in Norman, Maisano said.
Discussion also included animal cruelty issues, and an ordinance to prohibit pet confinement in unventilated vehicles.
· Confinement of dogs and cats, to restrict unaltered cats from being allowed to run at large.
· Disposition of animals, allowing a feral dog or cat to be euthanized without observing the full five day waiting period.
· Deposit of waste material, which requires a person in charge of a dog to clean up and properly dispose of waste the dog deposits on public or unauthorized private property.
Any input will be reviewed with feedback from other meetings before the final draft ordinance changes are proposed to the City Council.
Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com