The city of Newport News will soon prohibit dog owners from tying their animals outside unattended for more than one hour, the City Council decided Tuesday night.
The council had discussed the idea for more than a year, with opinions ranging all over the spectrum, but the version of the ordinance passed Tuesday was unanimous.
Under the ordinance, dog owners who obtain a dog license as of Jan. 31 will be exempt from the new tethering rules, under a "grandfather clause," which several people who gave public comments asked the council to reconsider.
"We hope you will consider doing away with the grandfather clause and begin enforcement before this winter, not next summer, as currently proposed, because dogs don't care if they're licensed, they care if they're loved, exercised and respected as members of the family," said Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA's senior vice president of cruelty investigations.
The ordinance will go in to effect July 1 — another detail some asked the council to amend so it would be in effect in time for the winter. However, council members said they wanted to give residents enough time to learn about the ordinance and install fencing if they need to.
Some council members agreed with the public, but said the ordinance was a good start.
"This is not a perfect ordinance, no one is saying that," said Vice Mayor Rob Coleman, who has been a supporter of a tethering ban. "But it is a great move forward."
About 40 people attended the meeting to show support for the ordinance, wearing yellow stickers that read "unchain Newport News dogs."
Several council members urged those who came to speak to the council at the meeting to channel their passion for animals into other community issues, such as homelessness and at-risk youth.
"You all have the same passion for dogs that I have for children," said Councilwoman Sharon Scott, who has been a critic of a tethering ban. "I hope you all come out to the food banks. ... We have something in common."
Councilwoman Saundra Cherry said, "The same passion you have for dogs, I have for homelessness. I don't have a problem with the ordinance, but I do have a problem if you don't come back and stand in the same numbers to help us support something regarding homelessness."
"And the children," Scott added.
Newport News is one of the last Hampton Roads localities to adopt a ban after Norfolk-based PETA and other animal rights groups have been putting pressure on localities to do so in recent years, asserting tethering can cause aggression, illnesses and other issues.
Hampton and Suffolk have outright tethering bans, while Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach restrict the practice to no more than three consecutive hours. Chesapeake enacted a similar ban earlier this year. The Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors voted against a tethering ban in 2012. Poquoson does not have a tethering ordinance.
State laws require animals to have adequate food, water and shelter, while a local ordinance regulates the minimum length of rope that can be used to three times the length of the animal from its nose to the base of its tail, Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Michael Poplawski said.
There are about 12,800 licensed dogs in the city, Poplawski said.
City to repave asphalt pad for $1M
In other business, the city will spend nearly $1 million to repave an asphalt pad at its compost facility, the council appropriated Tuesday.
The pad is used for vegetative waste to be stored and processed into reusable compost and mulch products.
The 440,000-square-foot surface has suffered significant damage during the past few years, a memo from City Manager Jim Bourey to the council stated.
A simple overlay was scheduled in 2007 for $250,000, but other priorities delayed the work, the memo said. The unusually cold winter last year caused severe damage to the base, resulting in a higher cost.
The funding will come from a bond authorization.
1 comment:
That's fantastic, go Newport!
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