City Attorney Tim Weaver told council Monday evening that he had not completed his work on the suggested revisions to the animal ordinance, but wanted to hear further guidance from aldermen as to what they wanted. Alderman Melissa Greene replied she had heard from citizens about the need of language in Code regarding protecting animals during inclement weather.
Greene observed section 6.04.05 in City Code stipulates owners must provide adequate shelter, but said she had developed some definitions to add to Code to give authorities something more definite to go by when applying the law.
Alderman Mickey Schneider was confident everything they needed was already in Code, but Greene disagreed and insisted the definitions would make Code clearer and easier to enforce.
Alderman Bob Thomas said Fayetteville stipulates in its animal ordinance when certain temperatures would legally define when an animal owner was or was not providing minimum standards of shelter. Weaver advised Greene that specific was better than generic in her definitions, for example, what more precisely constitutes appropriate weatherproofing for a shelter.
Greene said she would continue her research to see what other cities have in their animal ordinances and report back at the next meeting.