Woof ! Woof !...Down Rover !

On Thursday January 4, 2006 @ 7:30 PM in the County Commissioners Room on the 2nd floor of the City/ County Bldg. there will be a public forum meeting to discuss a proposed Animal Control ordinance for Floyd County.

This piece of legislation is the result of more than a years work of research by the animal control department as well as many members of the general public. Its birth resulted from, among others, the irresponsible actions of, at the county level, persons raising wolf/hybred pups some of which escaped their enclosures and are now at large in the Georgetown area, and at the city level, multiple persons raising what appeared to be fighting dogs for profit or otherwise, some of which also escaped their enclosures and terrorized our neighborhoods on various occasions.

To add insult to injury, during the last session of our illustrious state legislature, a law that pertained to somethig else entirely got repealed. Problem is, tacked onto that particular piece of legislation, was Indiana's leash law. The point being, as I understand it, we no longer have a state law against animals, domestic or otherwise running loose at will. The existing local ordinances serve only to incarcerate the offending animal at the animal shelter which is underfunded, understaffed, and has limited space to house them anyway.

This new proposal is neither breed specific nor species specific, but rather puts the burden on the owner, breeder, or responsible handler of the animal to insure that it is contained, and provided a safe, healthy environment to live in. One can own, house, and care for anything from a church mouse to a Siberian Tiger as long as one provides it a clean, well cared for habitat and it is protected from the public and the public is protected from said animal.

The purpose here is to care for the animal as well as protect the public. And yes, there will be a nominal fee for ALL pet owners based on the size and species of said pet. Nothing is free in this life, but majority rules and none of us desire to see anyone, animal or human abused or otherwise hurt. This is the lesser of the evils.

I urge all interested parties to attend this meeting and put your support behind it. We all love our pets, but they like many other things in our lives are a priviledge, not a right. Priviledges are best protected by our responsible use of them.

P.S. I was hoping a draft of the pending ordinance would be up on a webpage by now but apparently it isn't. for anyone who may be interested, if you will send me your email address via my email , (hlwimp@insightbb.com) I'll be more than happy to send you a copy!