HomeMy WebLinkAboutA009 - Letter dated August 20, 1998 from Ames Humane League Memorandum
Date: August 20, 1998
Subject: Animal Control Ordinances
From: Ames Humane League
OWN-
JTo: Mayor Tedesco and Ames City Council Members ,
Since the last City Council meeting, the Ames Humane League has continued to examine the
recommended amendments to the animal control ordinances. We have discussed the topic in
depth and weighed input from staff and citizens. Several citizens have attended our league
meetings, each has expressed concerns over amendment 3.126, and each has whole heartedly
supported amendment 3.124. We had no input from any citizens indicating they felt 3.126 was a
necessary response to our animal control concerns in Ames. With all things considered.. the
Ames Humane League must restate its position to support amendment 3.124, and recommend
tabling of amendment 3.126. During the previous council meeting it was clear that there are
several issues the league and the staff interpret differently. These issues were addressed in our
last memo and need not be revisited. However, several points evolved in that meeting that all
parties involved are concerned about, these issues we address below:
1.) Amendment 3.124 is essential to acheive our original goal of giving the Animal Control
Officers the tools they need to deal with and help avoid the repeat offenders. These are the
people we need to address in order to keep our neighborhoods pleasant places to live. This
amendment will function irrelevant of the number of animals involved. This amendment stands
well on its own and need not be tied to 3.126. Please pass this ordinance now so it can begin to
do its job. Do not paralyze our animal control staff any longer.
2.) There has been absolutely no numbers presented to support the idea that citizens with
higher numbers of animals in their households contribute more to our animal nuisance
complaints than households with fewer numbers.
3.) Enforcement of amendment 3.126 will be difficult and time consuming. We honestly feel
that the numbers of households affected by this amendment is much higher than the staff
realizes.
4.) Use of our limited animal control staff to enforce an unnecessary ordinance will only take
staff time away from more important issues.
5.) Are our animal control officers adequately educated on the husbandry of all the types of
animals that ordinance 3.126 could involve? How much time and resources will we need to allow
so they have this education to insure the public is accurately and concisely educated on these
issues?
In closure, the Ames Humane League reccommends the adoption of amendment 3.124 as soon
as possible. We do not at this time support adoption of amendment 3.126.