Rockford residents shall be allowed to maintain 4 dogs so long as one is adopted from a shelter or foster program underneath a compromise to a brand new canine restrict proposed Monday by Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14.
Bonne urged lowering Rockford’s restrict on the variety of dogs allowed per family down to a few from the present 4 amongst different well being and security measures after a horrific canine attack in his neighborhood in October.
The compromise which doesn’t require a price or allow, was in response to animal rights activists who objected to the restrict discount saying that it may pressure Winnebago County Animal Services and result in extra dogs being euthanized.
Opponents of the ordinance downplayed the October incident during which two of 4 pit bulls that had been left largely unattended on Winnetka Drive over an extended weekend attacked and killed one of many dogs, blaming the incident on a skunk the dogs had additionally apparently killed within the yard. The killing was heard and seen by neighbors together with a baby.
More: ‘Horrific afternoon’ prompts Rockford to consider new limits on dogs
Ald. Bill Rose, D-9, who is just not a member of the committee that thought of the ordinance, mentioned he disagreed with putting extra stringent limits on the variety of dogs allowed in Rockford households. He mentioned town mustn’t overreact to a single horrible incident.
“The variety of dogs does not matter, they might have ended up combating as a result of they have been unattended and probably the skunk,” Rose mentioned. “I feel it’s a knee-jerk response of us to make a coverage regarding the variety of dogs primarily based on one incident in a single ward for the remainder of town of Rockford.”
Bonne argued the attack witnessed by neighbors was the latest in a string of incidents which have included canine bites and dogs operating at giant. He has additionally argued that lowering the variety of dogs in a family lowered the possibilities of a violent episode.
Members of the Code & Regulation Committee authorized the amended ordinance on a 3-2 vote, sending it to the total Rockford City Council for consideration. Ald. Tim Durkee, R-1, Ald. Isidro Barrios, D-11, and Bonne voted in favor of it. Ald. Gabrielle Torina, D-5, and Ald. Gina Meeks, D-9, voted towards it.
“I really feel like we’re addressing one thing we do not actually need to deal with,” Meeks mentioned, including that the ordinance may unintentionally trigger the variety of animals that should be euthanized to extend.
Part of the brand new ordinance can be meant to permit Winnebago County Animal Services to implement Rockford’s legal guidelines regulating dogs by shifting them out of town’s zoning legal guidelines and into its code of ordinances.
It would prohibit permitting dogs to be saved outdoors in a single day unattended for greater than 20 minutes; prohibit permitting waste to gather and create unsanitary, harmful or offensive situations; and require house owners to correctly and safely confine and fence their pets, prohibiting them from permitting dogs to run at giant.
Households that at present have 4 legally registered dogs can be grandfathered in and allowed to maintain the fourth canine till it dies. Under the compromise modification, a household that desires to switch a fourth canine, may exchange it with a canine adopted from Animal Services, a nonprofit shelter or authentic Winnebago County canine fostering program.
Bonne mentioned that with the modification, the change ought to have a minimal affect on Winnebago County Animal Services.
“This is just not a giant change,” Bonne mentioned. “You are grandfathered in at 4. The modification earlier than you tonight would let you keep at 4, if at the very least certainly one of them is an adopted canine from an area shelter or you’re taking part in a foster program.”
Jeff Kolkey writes about authorities, financial growth and different points for the Rockford Register Star. He could be reached at (815) 987-1374, by way of electronic mail at [email protected] and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
