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Agenda 05-02-2019 - 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum-Cat Concern
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Agenda 05-02-2019 - 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum-Cat Concern
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BOCC
Date
5/2/2019
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Regular Meeting
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Agenda
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12-5
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Agenda 05-02-2019 Regular Board Meeting
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\Board of County Commissioners\BOCC Agendas\2010's\2019\Agenda - 05-02-19 Regular Meeting
Minutes 05-02-2019 Regular Meeting
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\Board of County Commissioners\Minutes - Approved\2010's\2019
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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> NORTH CAROLINA <br /> A-r6mat-Services <br /> 1601 Eubanks Road ( Chapel Hill, NC 27516 1 phone:(919)942-7387 1 fax: (919)918-2393 <br /> wLww,oranRecountKnc.gov/animalservices <br /> April 23, 2019 <br /> To: Penny Rich, Chaih BoaLO of County Commissioners, and Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager <br /> From: Robert A. Maro ff <br /> ector, Orange County Animal Services <br /> Re: Cat Concern <br /> The purpose of this memo is to make you aware that the Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) has reviewed a <br /> concern about the absence of a provision in the Unified Animal Ordinance (UAO) requiring cats to be kept on <br /> their owner's property and/or leashed. The board and Animal Services staff concur that there is no need to <br /> entertain an amendment to the ordinance for reasons that are discussed in more detail below. <br /> At the outset, I would underscore that neither the ASAB nor Animal Services staff is encouraging or endorsing <br /> the idea that cats should be allowed to freely roam. For a variety of reasons, we would like cats with an owner <br /> or a keeper to be kept indoors or in safe outdoor enclosures, and we hope to increasingly make this message <br /> prominent in our public outreach and education. At the same time, we are keenly aware of the need for new <br /> and much more effective approaches to manage free-roaming cats in Orange County and beyond. <br /> With respect to the requested ordinance amendment, Ms. Carol McCanna and Ms. Libby Habeck addressed this <br /> concern to the ASAB at its January 31, 2018 meeting. They did so after Ms. McCanna spoke with me about her <br /> concern given her recent experience seeking to involve Animal Services in resolving a problem she was <br /> experiencing with a neighbor's cat. In particular, she was displeased that Animal Services was not able to assist <br /> her given that the cat was microchipped as well as licensed and vaccinated. The reason is that the cat was not <br /> engaging in a behavior that constitutes a public nuisance under the ordinance, e.g., repeatedly injuring or killing <br /> animals or birds or defecating or urinating in sandboxes, flower beds, etc. <br /> Under the public nuisance section (4-45) of the UAO it is not a public nuisance for a cat that"can be identified <br /> through a currently registered microchip"to be off the property of its owner or keeper.This approach was <br /> deliberately taken in creating the UAO because cats were not seen to present the same risks to public health <br /> and safety as dogs and other animals, prior experience prosecuting nuisance cat infractions was not positive, <br /> and in many situations good neighbors balanced the limited freedom of a cat with the cat's potential impact on <br /> others. This approach was favored not only by county staff, but also by the town staff who were involved in <br /> developing the UAO, on the basis of experience with the extant ordinances for the county and the towns of <br /> Chapel Hill and Carrboro. <br />
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