Monessen delays animal control ordinance

By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com

Monessen City Council has delayed introducing an animal control ordinance as it reconsiders the regulations it will contain.
Initially, it was discussed during a workshop meeting when Mayor Matt Shorraw explained all existing animal laws — including the number of dogs or cats a resident can own, regulations for chickens or waterfowl — would be covered in one ordinance with additional information and categories.
The current law limits residents to two dogs per home, but Shorraw said the law should have been written based on square footage of homes.
If the new ordinance passed as originally written, the limit would be five animals if a home has 20,000 square feet or less. No more than four of the five animals can be dogs. If a home has more than 20,000 square feet, the owner can add one more animal.
Anyone who lives in an apartment, duplex or condo could have two animals, either two cats or two dogs, or one of each, in the first draft of this new ordinance.
At council’s voting meeting, the ordinance was tabled until it can be revisited after a resident said she was concerned about limiting the number of cats a person could own.
The resident, who only shared her first name, Chris, said she felt the ordinance focused on the wrong things and that instead of worrying about the number of cats or dogs a homeowner had, a better way or approaching animal control might be to force all pet owners to spay and neuter all pets.
She also recommended that all dog owners be required to build a fence on their property to keep dogs from leaving their yards.

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