Published Tuesday, April 27, 1999 Morocco, council's representative on the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter board, wants to amend the Shenango Valley Dog Ordinance to limit the number of animals on a property smaller than 5 acres to two dogs, two cats or one of each.
He said he studied the number of and kinds of calls the shelter's dog wardens have received for the last 20 years, and the ability of the wardens -- one full-timer and one part-timer -- to enforce existing animal-control laws.
"Anything we can do to make the situation a little more manageable would be an improvement," he said Monday.
Households that already exceed the proposed limit would be grandfathered for the life of the pets.
Councilman Peter Stephanopoulos said he was not ready to vote, and Helen Marenchin said she would rather get some sense of what citizens think of the proposal before making a decision.
Councilman Louis Falconi, who also suggested limiting the number of animals in a household to two, said it was an "off the cuff" remark that he's not ready to support. "There are a lot of little old ladies out there with animals running around the kitchen," he said.
Morocco said enforcement of the lowered limit would be based on complaints, but council tabled the measure. Morocco said that would hamper the shelter board and dog wardens but voted for the motion.
Morocco's proposal also would repeal the requirement for an annual census of dogs, toughen the prohibition on fighting animals and require animals adopted from the shelter to be spayed or neutered.
