Iberia Parish compromising on revised animal code
Pet lovers, listen up. The animal code of ordinances in Iberia Parish is in the process of changing, and one element that has gotten a lot of attention lately asks what standards proper pet care should be held to.
NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) -- Pet lovers, listen up. The animal code of ordinances in Iberia Parish is in the process of changing, and one element that has gotten a lot of attention lately asks what standards proper pet care should be held to.
The Iberia Parish Council announced comprehensive amendments to the animal code in a Wednesday meeting, but not as comprehensive as was initially intended.
"This was my proposed ordinance which was like 30 something pages," District 6 Iberia Parish Councilwoman Natalie Broussard showed News 10 as we entered her office Wednesday.
Broussard has been working on revising the local animal laws for years. Though some progress has been made, last week her proposal to replace the animal code hit a snag. Legal counsel Andy Shealy cut out over 70% percent of it, including standards for proper care.
"We would really like to see that in there," animal advocate, Tracy Davenport, voiced to News 10.
She runs local rescue operation Louisiana Imagine No Kill (LINK) which works closely with Iberia Parish Animal Control and hopes specific standards for care language returns to the amendment.
State laws give definitions for proper shelter, tethering, and more, but it's not specific. For example, "Proper shelter" simply means "providing each animal with adequate shelter from elements as required to prevent unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering by an animal."
"Which becomes very subjective to whoever is investigating the complaint at the time," Broussard argued. Her original proposed definitions for "proper shelter" and "proper space" were ten times longer than state law.
Broussard stated, "If we have it spelled out in our ordinance, then that gives them some guidance on is this animal neglect or is it not."
Davenport added, "Put it out there that this is how we want our animals in the community to be cared for. I think it would go a long way to changing the culture in how the animals are treated in the community."
Most of what legal counsel took out of Broussard's 30-page amendment draft was penalties that would have discouraged the neglect and abuse Broussard said the shelter is "struggling" with.
"I have to say that was very disappointed to see most of the teeth was removed, but I understand that we're building our program right now and we're trying to work toward getting to that."
The stricter law would require a greater ability to receive animals in the Iberia Parish Animal Shelter. Since the program is adapting from recently being a rabies control operation, Broussard doesn't believe the rest of the council will be on board with her level of detail yet, so she's planning on compromising by shortening her standards of care language to get some good done.
"It's baby steps," Broussard explained. "I know what we are going to be passing is not sufficient, but it's a real good start from where we were."
You can read Broussard's original proposed amendment here.