By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – Cass County commissioners unanimously adopted a 32-page dog law enforcement ordinance Thursday, although Nancy Wilson of Jefferson Township objected to several aspects as "quite ludicrous," starting with a typo on the date of the last revision on Dec. 12, 2001.
"They don't even know when they wrote the last one," Wilson said.
"Exotic animals? Does that mean you're not going to have any circuses in Cass County" like the one coming to Edwardsburg?
"Horse trails? Is your granddaughter going to get off her horse and have the pooper scooper with her to pick this stuff up when it goes to the bathroom?" Wilson directed her question toward Commissioner Jack Teter, R-Edwardsburg.
"People who let their dogs run at large, I can see (restricting) that," she said. "But I have animals on my farm and my dog will heel them in a heartbeat. I have a goat that thinks it's a cow because we leave it out with our animals. She'll bring them into the barn when there's a storm. My chickens roam free because I like organic eggs. We're told by this new ordinance that you want to pass that this stuff won't be tolerated.
"I just got a copy at 2 o'clock of the third attempt on this," Wilson said. "If my grandchild throws a cat at you, it's first going to claw you. Do I have to put my cat down because my grandchild threw an animal at you and it scratched you? I think that's kind of ridiculous.
"Exotic animals? Every horse that's in the continental United States is an exotic animal. It did not originate in the United States. It was brought over from a foreign country. Does that mean we have to put down every horse in Cass County?"
Animal Control Director Pat Fetherston responded, "There was a committee of 10 people who looked at this – two veterinarians, two assistant prosecutors, (Dowagiac) City Manager Bill Nelson, (Councilman) Darron Murray, (former Board of Commissioners chairman) Jim Guse and myself. We met several times going over changes in this ordinance.
"In the last public hearing those comments were transcribed and those individuals who made comments submitted extensive written comments. Those were all gone over last Thursday evening. With those comments, changes were made.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding. If you read the ordinance, the exotic animal situation does not preclude a circus from coming to Cass County. It precludes an individual from owning a wild or dangerous animal.
"The ordinance specifically talks about the picking up dog feces," Fetherston continued. "In our discussion last Thursday evening, the City of Dowagiac is looking at the very same thing."
In fact, City Council July 24 introduced a "pooper scooper ordinance" that could cost citizens who fail to clean up after their canines fines ranging from $25 for a first offense to $100 for a repeat offense and $250 for subsequent repeat offenses.
"If a horse goes down the road and excretes manure, nobody's saying you have to jump off and clean it up," Fetherston said. "That's not the situation. The other situation with this ordinance is that it's a criminal offense. If an animal control officer sees what he or she believes is a criminal offense, they either write a ticket or submit it to the Prosecutor's Office in report form, and that prosecutor reviews that report. It's not a decision of the officer as to guilt. It's in the court system and there are checks and balances.
"So I don't believe that the concerns that were raised this evening are valid," Fetherston concluded.
Commissioners had been set to adopt the ordinance after a public hearing July 20 on the revised ordinance at which several people expressed concerns, including Cheryl Fortuna of Howard Township, a Republican candidate for commissioner challenging Democratic incumbent Johnie Rodebush.
Chairman Robert Wagel, R-Wayne Township, limited public comments to three minutes.
"The chair feels that Pat and his group have worked on this for more than 18 months. We've had a public hearing and the appropriate thing for the board to do this evening is to vote on the ordinance," Wagel said.
The Dowagiac Athletic Boosters Club will hold its first meeting on Monday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Dowagiac Athletic Office across from Dowagiac Union High School.
The meeting is open to the public.