During the winter, citizens provided the Cape Charles Planning Commission photographs of dogs that were being penned in less than humane circumstances. The photos showed dogs standing in cold water, in an area that appeared severely neglected. This has led the Commission to, for the past several months review the issue of dog enclosures ( “pens”) within the residential areas of Cape Charles.
Commissioners have also reviewed other ordinance language from the City of Suffolk. During the last meeting, the Planning Commission has been focused on how best to deal with the condition of domestic dogs left in outdoor pens, but also whether the town should pursue a more robust tethering ordinance (currently, the town is following the Northampton County ordinance, allowing the animal to be tethered for up to 12 hour periods of time). “I thought this is what this was all about,” said Commissioner Dan Burke. “Are we going to look at the tethering issue?”
The issue came to a head a few weeks ago when County Animal Control was alerted to the plight of the dogs that were being kept in what were clearly inhumane conditions. Animal Control was unable to do anything to help the dogs, due to the fact that the town did not have an enforceable ordinance on the books that dealt with dog pens. [Read more…]