Fort Smith to revisit animal control proposals

The City of Fort Smith Board of Directors is ready to take a second look at its animal care and control laws.

At the Thursday (March 15) Study Session, the board, acting on a recommendation of the Animal Services Task Force (ASTF), decided it was time to revisit this hot-button issue from 2011, during which tethering of a dog to a stationary object was essentially abolished, and mandatory pet registration was required.

At Thursday’s Study Session, the board agreed with the ASTF that pet licensing is not feasible. It also struck down two recommendations, which declared that cats allowed to roam free be spay and neutered and that regular feeding of stray animals constitutes their adoption.

While the ASTF felt the spay and neuter recommendation was essential to ending the feral cat problem in Fort Smith, the board ultimately found it unenforceable. On the issue of feeding strays, City Director Andre Good objected on the grounds that it would “take away a person’s right to show compassion.”

Good continued: “I don’t see how we can tell our citizens, ‘don’t show compassion and feed this cat as if it were your own,’ if that’s what they want to do.’”

Dr. Daniel Jones, DDS, a member of the ASTF, disagreed.

“If you want to show compassion, catch the animal and turn it in. You feed it, you’re only making the (overpopulation) problem worse,” he said.

Ultimately, the board agreed with Good. For City Director Steve Tyler, the issue fell under “one of those things that can be better handled through education” rather than an ordinance.

Near the end of Thursday night’s Study Session, the board revisited animal securement.

The board voted to prioritize a requirement for owners to secure their dogs to the property. “All dogs must be safe and secure on owner’s property by one of three methods: secure fencing, a trolley system, or tethering,” the recommendation read.

One unnamed audience member objected to tethering, citing support from the Humane Society of the United States that “the practice is cruel to dogs,” and “leads to increased aggression,” according to the organization’s website.

At the session, the Sebastian County Humane Society (SCHS) was also a source of discussion. The ASTF recommended that the board restructure contractual support and “require greater transparency in SCHS reporting.”

The ASTF wants monthly reporting “of the specific reasons why euthanized dogs and cats were designated as non-adoptable.” In 2011, the SCHS took in 5,130 dogs and 2,308 cats for a total of 7,438. Of these stray animals, 77% (5,725) were euthanized.

The board agreed the matter should be a priority for the ASTF in the coming months.

Finally, City Administrator Ray Gosack said applications for the two openings on the Animal Services Advisory Board (established in 2011) would remain open until the City Directors’ meeting on April 3.