Fort Smith board adopts new animal control rules

Unless amended or repealed, Fort Smith will have a new set of animal control laws as of Jan. 1, 2012, that will include the mandatory registration of pets, spay and neutering of pets and regulation of tethering dogs.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Tuesday (Mar. 15) approved four new ordinances relating to animal control. Two of the ordinances — one relating to mandatory spay and neutering and one relating to clarification of definitions — will require second and third readings because the failed to garner a 5-2 vote necessary to enact an emergency clause.

Ordinances approved were:
• Ordinance essentially abolishing the tethering of a dog to a stationary object;
• Ordinance enacting a mandatory pet registration, spay and neuter regulations and hobbyist permit for dogs and cats;
• Ordinance creating the Animal Services Advisory Board;
• Ordinance establishing new definitions for the purpose of interpreting the new rules and regulations.

The most contentious of the ordinances was the one requiring annual registration of dogs and cats and requiring that pets be spayed or neutered. The annual fee is $5 per pet, or $10 for a lifetime permit.

“When initially registering a dog or cat, the owner shall provide documented proof of current rabies vaccination as well as documented proof that the animal has been spayed or neutered,” noted the ordinance.

Prior to voting on the ordinance, JoAnn Barton, executive director of the Sebastian County Humane Society, said the rule changes were needed because about 4,600 animals — or 66% of all animals entering the shelter — each year are rounded up from the streets.

“We’ve got a serious pet population (problem) here,” Barton said.

Dr. Chris Ashworth, a Fort Smith-based veterinarian with more than 24-years experience as a vet, spoke to oppose the new ordinances. He said there were too many unknowns in the bill, especially with regard to revenue collection and use of Freedom of Information (FOI) access to animal documentation.

“I think you need to be careful about some of the things in this ordinance,” Ashworth said. “These issues need to be based on science and not emotion.”

As to the FOI rules, Ashworth said inadvertent release of information about pets and pet owners is not acceptable.

“This is not a threat. This is a promise. I will bring litigation against the city of Fort Smith,” if the FOI rules are not addressed, Ashworth told the board.

City Director Philip Merry Jr. countered that Dr. Mike Thames, a local and prominent veterinarian, was consulted in the development of the ordinances and supports their passage. City Director Pam Weber countered Ashworth’s argument that professionals were not consulted, saying that “much thought and research” from experts from Arkansas and other states was used to develop the package of new animal control ordinances.

City Directors Don Hutchings and Kevin Settle voted against all four ordinances.