First readings of Mercer County spay/neuter and canine control ordinances pass

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2 days ago

princeton – First readings were conducted Tuesday for spay/neuter ordinances and a canine control ordinance aimed at reducing Mercer County homeless pet population and getting pet owners to keep their dogs under control.
A canine control ordinance and a spay/neuter ordinance had first readings by the Mercer County Commission. Commissioner Greg Puckett, who read both ordinances into the official record, said copies of both would be posted on the county's website and Facebook page.
The canine control ordinance has measures requiring dog owners to keep their pets on a leash when out in the public or fenced in so they cannot roam.
'That's one of the worst issues that we have,' Puckett said later. 'Roaming dogs are a terrible problem here in Mercer County. They collect a lot of problems. They do a lot in not only being nuisance, they tear down the fabric of land they go across.'
A canine control ordinance will help the county address the damage that stray dogs do to private and public property and control where they harass pets and livestock, he said.
'We had this issue come up back in the winter,' Puckett said. 'We had a constituent come from Matoaka and say hey, I've got roaming dogs. They're eating all the free-roaming chickens, they're actually eating cats. There were some videos of actually cats that were being consumed by a pack of dogs, so there's a lot of things where if you can control those packs, control that roaming, then you have a lot more safety not only for the people in the community, but for the animals as well.'
The spay/neuter ordinance would require those procedures for dogs and cats. This ordinance has exceptions for work animals such as farm dogs, hunting dogs and dogs used for legal breeding purposes. Fees collected from licensing and fines will go into a fund to help pet owners who cannot afford these procedures, Puckett said.
Between the canine control ordinance and the spay/neuter ordinance, the county can address population issues at the county animal shelter, he said.
Puckett said the ordinance fits West Virginia State Code and magistrates should be allowed to hear cases under it, Puckett said.
Both ordinances would go into effect after a second reading at the commission's June 24 meeting.
'The spay/neuter ordinance is a beginning to reduce the population in Mercer County, ' said Lesia Moten, co-founder and president of ALIVE (Animal Lives Inspiring Volunteer Efforts). 'We have to start somewhere. It may not be perfect, but it's a start. It has been worked on for years. It will need to be tweaked as we go along for enforcement. We need to enforce it in a responsible manner that the shelter can handle the intake and the influx.'
Sandy Flanagan with the Mercer County Humane Society said that the spay/neuter ordinance would be 'a very progressive step.'
'I helped write the spay/neuter ordinance years ago,' Flanagan said. 'It feels good that it's going to finally, hopefully, get passed because it's needed. I hate it that people have to be made to do the right thing, but the mindset of so many people around here, to me, if you're going to get a dog, why are you not keeping it on your property? It's frustrating for us who do keep our dogs up and have to put up with the neighbors'.'
'I also think it has to do with the overpopulation as far as letting your dogs run,' Flanagan said.
'They work in tandem with each other,' Moten said about the ordinances. 'If you don't have free-roaming dogs, you have less overpopulation of animals that are just being allowed to reproduce out in the community. And if you have the spay and neuter ordinance, then you have people being held accountable for their own animals and it just works together in tandem.'
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