Published Tuesday, May 25, 1999 Council members Raymond Fabian, Fred Hoffman, Joseph Baldwin and Chris Outrakis voted against the proposal, which among other things, limited the number of household pets. Councilman George Gulla voted for it.
Also Monday, Farrell council passed the ordinance on its second reading, including a provision to limit the combined number of dogs and cats in a household to four. Councilman Rudolph Hammond voted against passage, saying the limit should be set at two.
In Sharon, Gerald Mondok, of 1418 Hall Ave., who breeds and shows dogs, questioned the legality of a pet limit.
"This is just going to be another law on the books,'' he said. "It was thrown out once."
"It was not thrown out per se,'' COG Executive Director James DeCapua replied. "When you adopt an ordinance like this, you should have a rational reason for a four-pet limit.''
In 1994, Commonwealth Court agreed with that in an appeal case involving a Carnegie, Pa., cat owner who was cited under that town's 1992 ordinance limiting households to five pets.
Farrell Councilman William Morocco said an attorney for the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter board and the solicitors of all six municipalities -- including Hermitage, Sharpsville, Wheatland and West Middlesex -- found no legal problems with the ordinance.
The local changes were first discussed about two years ago by the Shenango Valley Animal Control Board, which includes representatives from the municipalities, as a way to control the pet population explosion, DeCapua said.
DeCapua said representatives from the Humane Society of Mercer County and Animal Appeal proposed mandatory spaying and neutering but the board came up with the current proposal as a compromise.
"This won't solve the problem,'' said the society's former humane agent Gerda Widmyer, who noted there are leash laws, nuisance laws and laws to control dogs in heat.
"You need to update the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter and you need more people working there,'' she said.
Alma Carlo of 346 Watson St., Sharon, agreed: "You've got to get rid of what's in the streets.''
Last year, she said, a neighbor's cat bit her daughter, now 7, and the girl had to suffer through rabies shots because authorities couldn't get the cat, even with a search warrant, because the owner protected it. She said she recently counted hundreds of cats and kittens in a five-block radius, including about 30 cats that the neighbor claimed as hers.
"I can keep control of mine. Why can't somebody keep control of theirs? My daughter's scarred for life.''
Suzanne Vlaskovich of 1207 Negley St., Farrell, said she rescues animals and fears she'll be prosecuted for doing a good deed.
"I don't see why it should be anyone's concern how many dogs or cats I or anyone has in a home," said the owner of five cats.
Morocco, Farrell's representative on the animal shelter board, agreed to see if some sort of permit can be developed for people like Ms. Vlaskovich.
Morocco added that enforcement of the ordinance would be based on complaints. "We're not going to be knocking on the doors of everyone in six communities," he said.
The legislation includes exemptions for recognized breeders, trainers and kennels; spayed and neutered animals; and puppies and kittens younger than 3 months old.
It also repeals the dog census, allows dog wardens to obtain search warrants from district justices in case of bites and toughens the prohibition against fighting animals.
Sharpsville, West Middlesex and Wheatland councils have approved the changes.
DeCapua told more than 20 residents at the Sharon council meeting that the shelter has one full-time warden to answer all animal calls and animal control hasn't been a top priority among municipalities. The humane society collects only abused, neglected or abandoned animals.
"We all love animals,'' said Mrs. Outrakis, "but I don't know if we need more legislation. I think we should hire a couple more boys (to collect animals).''
COG runs the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter, which the member communities fund at a cost of $1 per resident.
Baldwin said there were too many issues to decide Monday; Fabian said he didn't like the idea of limiting pets, adding the problem is with people who don't care for their animals.
Gulla, Sharon's shelter representative, said he thinks the amendment would help.
Sharon Mayor Robert T. Price offered to talk with DeCapua about the cost of hiring more shelter staff and meet with other local officials to discuss the costs, as well as look at the stray cat problem around Watson Street.
Farrell council, which last month expressed interest in increasing enforcement staff, said it wants to talk about increasing the per-capita charge to meet that aim.
