Amador County – Plymouth City Council in late October directed staff to look at city pet ownership code and needed changed to align it with Amador County code, so policing problem dogs in the city can be more effective.

City Clerk Gloria Stoddard said the Council already adopted county animal control code, but needs a zoning code change to match county requirements for people to get a kennel use permit when they have four or more dogs. Stoddard said the requirement is described in city code, but needs to be added to zoning code for enforcement. She noted that the county code specifically refers to “dogs and cats,” while municipal code only refers to “animals.”

Councilwoman Patricia Shackleton asked if they should use county code, but acknowledged recent city problems with dogs barking, and meter readers. She said: “Let’s prevent some of these things from happening again.”

Stoddard said the change “allows us to contract with the county so we don’t have to handle” the incidents ourselves. She said the city would have to decide the number to limit. Mayor Greg Baldwin asked if staff had contacted cities in the valley. Stoddard said she had, and most limited it to 3 or 4 animals, before requiring kennel permits. Some said dogs or cats, but most limited it to “four animals.”

City Manager Jeff Gardner said the limit doesn’t keep people from having more than a certain number of pets, but it does add more restrictions with licensing.

They discussed a vicious dog that was destroyed, with permission from the dog’s owner, after a biting in town. It was also asked about puppies and the limits. Baldwin asked about limiting breeds. City Attorney Laura Hollender said if you have a vicious dog, you can deal with it individually, but “you can’t discriminate by breed.” Shackleton liked that Gardner told the city “we are paying attention to the dog issues.”

Stoddard said pups could be kept without a kennel license until they are 6 months old, then the county requires a kennel license. Shackleton suggested a grandfather clause so it’s OK for people with 6 pets now to keep them, but they cannot add more, and “they must come down to 4.”

Councilwoman Sandy Kyles asked if they really wanted kennels on 6,000 square foot lots. Hollender said they could look at zoning and lot size in county code.

Gardner said Supervisors discussed barking dogs in their ordinance, but couldn’t get majority support. He said the City Planning Commission will be concerned with zoning.

An animal control worker urged inviting Animal Control Director John Vail to a meeting, saying he was very articulate, good with community relations and could explain county code.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.