CRESTVIEW — Residents may soon be able to keep a wider variety of pets, including pot-bellied pigs and some fowl, pending approval of proposed revisions to Crestview's animal control ordinance.
In addition to such pigs, revisions would allow residents to keep up to six fowl — except for noisy roosters, gobblers or peafowl — which can provide fresh eggs for families and insect control, City Planner Eric Davis said at the City Council’s Monday workshop.
Council members discussed revising the city animal ordinance to mirror the county ordinance. That would simplify inspections for the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS, which contracts animal control services with the city and the county, City Clerk Betsy Roy said. Its animal control officers occasionally are unsure if they are in city or county jurisdiction when conducting an inspection, she said.
When Davis suggested dropping Crestview's ordinance and adopting the county animal control laws, Roy said if the city hired another contractor, Crestview would have no animal ordinance to enforce. In addition, county rules — some oriented toward particularly rural districts — allow a wider variety of animals, including cows, which are incompatible with urban areas.
Councilwoman Robyn Helt said she favored the city maintaining its own animal control regulations. At her suggestion, Davis agreed to revise some of the proposed ordinance’s sections to eliminate potential loopholes.
Davis will present the revised ordinance at a future meeting of the council.
Last fall, a resident addressed the city council about keeping pot-bellied pigs as pets, citing the animals' cleanliness, affection and mild temperament as reasons to revise the ordinance that prohibits them.
Under council direction, Davis researched other municipalities' animal control ordinances. His draft of revisions used Pensacola’s ordinance as a model.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: City officials consider revisions to animal control ordinance