Proposed animal ordinance drafted

Published 12:00 am Friday, May 19, 2006

NATCHEZ &8212; Dogs in the county don&8217;t have to be tied up just yet, but that day is approaching. An animal ordinance proposal has been created and handed out for Adams County officials and veterinarians to critique.

Adams County Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said the proposal is merely a rough draft and will be changed. Local attorney, Patricia Dunmore, put the proposal together.

&8220;This is still a long way off from being complete,&8221; Grennell said. &8220;This is a rough draft and still is in its very earliest stages.&8221;

Email newsletter signup

But one veterinarian has concerns with the proposal already.

&8220;Every sentence could be a problem,&8221; local veterinarian Byron Garrity said. &8220;It does have a pretty good approach to vicious animals, but I am not a fan at all of this ordinance.&8221;

The new proposal takes over the cities current law and puts the county and city into one animal control officer&8217;s hands overall, Garrity said.

&8220;It basically outlaws the free range of any animal in the county,&8221; Garrity said. &8220;There are some good points, but there are some awful bad points.&8221;

The proposal, as it stands, outlaws every pit bull breed, wolf-hybrid dog and fighting dog from the county.

An animal control officer will also have to be hired and will have complete control.

The board of supervisors, which has control in initiating a move towards adopting an ordinance, is waiting, Grennell said.

&8220;The board has not even had time to discuss this ordinance,&8221; Grennell said.

&8220;We are waiting for suggestions from veterinarians and members of the humane society on what we need to do to modify this.&8221;

The proposed ordinance, being passed around for critique and suggestions, will be advertised in the paper to vote on at a public hearing at a later date, Grennell said.

Sheriff Ronny Brown was glad to see a proposal and also glad to see the ordinance would take the problem off of his hands.

&8220;Only thing I didn&8217;t see is how much it&8217;s going to cost the public,&8221; Brown said. &8220;I know it&8217;s kind of vague and I&8217;m just waiting to see how the people react to it.&8221;