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Ann Arbor euthanizes pet ordinance
Public criticism leads to 9-2 vote against city's proposal
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
BY TOM GANTERT
News Staff Reporter
The controversial revision to Ann Arbor's animal ordinance that in its original incarnation banned the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores and mandated human companionship for all pets was put to sleep Monday.
The City Council, weary of the storm of criticism the revised ordinance has brought since it was proposed by former Council Member Heidi Herrell, voted it down 9-2 rather than allow it to go back for even more revisions.
Council Member Margie Teall, D-4th Ward, estimated she has received nearly a hundred e-mails criticizing the 38-page ordinance revision.
"I think the scope was beyond what I think it needs to be," Teall said. "It would have had to be drastically reworked."
Bob Darden was one of many residents who have criticized the task force that came up with the revisions for making too many unnecessary rules. Darden said the current city policy is just four pages and is fine.
"The micromanagement of pet ownership was a little over the top," said Darden, who owns a dog.
Only Democrats Joan Lowenstein and Chris Easthope voted in favor of the ordinance.
Lowenstein said there was some good in the revisions. Many on the council agreed a trimmed down version that addressed clearly defined concerns and had more broad-based input could be considered in the future.
Easthope wanted to save some of the changes that the city staff said made sense.
But Mayor John Hieftje said that was just 10 percent of what was before the council.
"I've never been a fan of it since Day 1," Hieftje said. "It was a huge distraction. We never identified what the problems were we were trying to correct."
The ordinance was approved at its first reading in early October. But many on the council admitted they hadn't given it a thorough reading.
By the time the second reading was due later that month, a more informed council postponed it.
The ordinance had gone through more than 40 revisions, with many of the most controversial parts deleted. The original wording would have banned keeping reptiles as pets and made it illegal to leave a pet unattended for more than 24 hours. People also would have had to call police or the Humane Society if they hit any animal on the road. Schools would not have been allowed to keep animals as pets or for educational purposes.
All those provisions never made it to the final version. And still more changes were needed, the council felt.
"It is not in the form it should be," said Council Member Jean Carlberg, D-3rd Ward, who wanted it to go back for more revisions. "There are things that need to be changed."
Herrell, a well known animal activist, stepped down in November from the council after serving eight years. In the previous two attempts to get the revised ordinance passed, Herrell broke down crying at the council table.
Hieftje said many on the council, including himself, respect Herrell's views, though they opposed the revised ordinance. Some council members couldn't help but feel bad for voting it down.
"I hope she wasn't watching on TV," Teall said during a break.
Tom Gantert can be reached at tgantert@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6701.
