PERRY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Pet owners in the Shiawassee County city of Perry who have what the city considers to be too many pets are worried and angry to find out that there are pet limits in their city. A social media post made by the Shiawassee Humane Society about changes to a zoning ordinance has made pet owners aware of the current and proposed changes to pet ownership in the city.

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The Humane Society’s post includes photos of the ordinance pages and reads, “I want to be extremely clear that if this were to pass, the lives of animals in this city and all surrounding areas will be at risk. Shiawassee County does not have a dedicated animal control. They contract out for dogs, but have no place for cats specifically. People will be ticketed for feeding and caring for stray cats, and all of our fosters within Perry will have to give up fostering.”

The Shiawassee Humane Society said in another post, “We are here to tell you that ALL shelters and rescues are full, with waiting lists that are several weeks to several months long. This means that responsible pet owners that need to re-home their pets are not going to have any viable options to do so within a short amount of time. This is extremely concerning to SHS.”

The Humane Society is referring to changes in Perry’s “Ordinance No. 383” which amends Perry City Code Section 3.30 of the “Animals in Residential and Agricultural District” rules which restricts the number of pets residents can have on their property. The rules that are already on the books say that in certain districts of the city, residents can only have up to four (4) pets and in others only two (2). However, it’s unclear what a “pet” is actually defined as in their rules.

In what appears to be the current zoning ordinance for the city, Ordinance No. 327 dated December 15, 2016, it defines pets as “Domesticated animals, kept for pleasure and not for utility. A list of pets include the following: dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, ducks, miniature bantam chickens (specifically the following breeds: Old English, Columbian Cochins, Silkies), guinea hens, and rabbits. Pets do not include standard chickens of any kind or breed, goats, horses, miniature horses, or other animals commonly raised in animal husbandry.”

Ordinance No. 383 also has a table that lists space requirements for “additional” animals and they list domestic pets as being birds, cats, dogs, reptiles and rodents. Although birds, reptiles and rodents are called domestic pets, they are not included in the definition of pets, leaving one to assume that you can have an unlimited amount of these three animals as long as you comply with the housing requirements.

Michigan News Source contacted all of the city commissioners to get clarification on this but none of them responded to our request for comment nor did they give any comments on their upcoming votes on the ordinance.

Mayor Sue Hammond responded but provided no clarity on the issue when she said, “The animals qualified as pets are included in the original and in the proposed revision.”

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Pet owners all over Michigan, and perhaps all over the country, would be surprised to know that there are a lot of townships and cities that have pet limit ordinances. As a long-time reporter and advocate in the animal rescue world, I have discussed this matter with several law enforcement officers and have been told that these ordinances are seldom used and often selectively enforced by officers as needed when they have to deal with neglect, abuse, hoarding or breeding situations. Law enforcement officers also might have to look into pet limit matters when responding to an animal complaint between neighbors.

Although the city of Perry is not making any additional changes to the limits on the number of pets that residents can own, they have added rules for getting temporary permits for additional animals and they have also added limits and rules on fostering cats.

If a city of Perry resident has any additional pets greater than the amounts specified, they will need to get a permit from the Zoning Administrator that will allow them 90 days (maximum) to keep the pet. They can get that temporary permit once during a 12-month period. Prior to getting a permit, the resident has to comply with the rules of space that the Zoning Administrator has set out for the housing of the pet – which for dogs includes having a minimum fenced yard space and indoor shelter of 20 square feet. For cats, residents are required to have a minimum indoor shelter of nine square feet. There are also rules on space for birds, reptiles and rodents.

In addition, new rules regarding the fostering of cats have been added in the ordinance. In addition to a resident’s owned pets, they can have up to two (2) foster cats in certain districts with a foster cat home permit and if they can prove that they are with a foster program with a recognized cat rescue organization. Two of the districts do not allow fostering cats at all. The new ordinance also says, “Breeding shall not be permitted. However, in the instance that a cat has offspring, the litter shall be permitted to remain on the premises for up to two (2) months to allow for adoption.”

Ordinance No. 383 is planned to come up for a vote at the next city council meeting on August 3rd and there is outrage online about what is being proposed – and what is already on the books regarding pet limits. Because of the fierce opposition to the ordinance, there is an Facebook event page posted to encourage people to attend the city council meeting on August 3rd at 7:00 p.m. So far, 55 people have already responded that they will attend.

The event page says that if the ordinance passes, people will be dumping their excess pets on the streets or trying to take them outside of Shiawassee County to an already overburdened animal shelter system that is almost always at full capacity. And what happens when these government shelters run out of space? They euthanize the animals. But that’s just a nice word for it. They kill them.

The Facebook event page to promote attending the city council meeting was set up by Megan Beavers and Jennifer Porter, both of whom rescue cats and participate in TNR activities (trap-neuter-release). Beavers has been rescuing cats for about two years, taking in stray kittens that are adoptable and then trying to find homes for them. Porter mostly focuses on adult cats. Beavers says that this new ordinance will “push an already overwhelmed system over the edge.”

Porter says that she’s also been doing cat rescue for about two years and currently fosters for “Happy Feet Pet Rescue” out of Lansing. She says the ordinance “fails to address the crisis we are faced with due to cat overpopulation” and that it “offers no solutions to the preponderance of stray cats roaming the city.” She went on to say, “City council members on the ordinance committee did not involve rescue experts in the crafting of the amended ordinance” and she points out that there is no county run shelter in Shiawassee County and that they instead only have the small private non-profit Humane Society shelter.

Porter explains how, in the past, the pet limits haven’t been enforced but that the new ordinance is confusing and raises too many questions. She is also confused about what a pet is defined as and wonders about those animals that are not even listed. She asks, “Can someone own 100 snakes?”

Porter also asks, “Why does a law abiding citizen attempting to do something positive by taking a dumped or abandoned pet off the street and fostering it by placing it with a rescue, now be required to get a permit and have an ordinance enforcement officer inspect their home? How is he an expert in proper fostering? To foster with a reputable rescue, one is already vetted by the rescue experts. This is government overreach and an invasion of privacy.”

If the proposed ordinance passes, it appears that cat rescuers who care for outside cats will be under the same rules as people with owned cats – and ticketed for caring for them. That means no feeding and no TNR allowed in the city limits. As a result, rescuers say that cats will reproduce and starve to death, dying a very painful and cruel death.

Animal rescuers and experts, including Shiawassee Humane Society, spoke at a previous meeting concerning the ordinance changes but Beavers and Porter say that their words “fell on deaf ears” and that now is the time for everyone else to speak.