Houston debates animal control

The city of Houston revamped its animal control ordinance by a unanimous vote of the city council in April, but when a new employee was hired in July and started knocking on doors to inform residents about the new code, that stirred protests. Some residents say they were left out of the political process and that they own so many dogs the new licensing fees are too expensive.

"The people that do the best to take care of their dogs don't want to carry the bulk of the burden," said Dan Govoni. Govoni was speaking at a meeting of the city's recently-formed animal control board, which was conducting a work session on the new code. Govoni also alleged that his civil rights had been violated by Houston's political process, which he said operated without enough public notice.

The current fee schedule for dog licensing in Houston is $10 for each unaltered dog, $7 for each spayed or neutered dog and $50 to register a kennel. Owners with more than five dogs get a break -- each additional dog over five dogs costs one dollar to register.

Govoni and his wife Lynda Plettner own and operate Plettner Kennels, a company that runs sled dog tours and a kennel. Govoni and Plettner told the board that they sometimes have up to 400 dogs living at their property, about half of which are owned by other people.

"We've been doing this for 23 years, and we have not needed animal control," Plettner told the board at one point. Plettner said that in her neighborhood loose dogs aren't a problem, and that when they are she and her neighbors take care of the problem. The couple has sometimes adopted stray dogs and sometimes takes them to the borough animal control facility, they told the board.

Plettner and Govoni both said that some neighborhoods in Houston need animal control -- but insist their own doesn't -- and Plettner claims to have offered to help the city of Houston with animal control in the past.

"There's a bunch of people that are serving in the city in an official capacity who know that we've offered to do this," Plettner said.

Houston has had animal control authority written into city code for decades, but the code hasn't been enforced for some time. It could be enforced by city employees or by the borough under a co-operative agreement, but both of those solutions require funding, which the voters have turned down in the past by refusing to raise property taxes.

The recent action on animal control has been due to the lobbying efforts of Evelyn Rohr, a resident whose dog was mauled to death by loose dogs last fall. Rohr petitioned residents and urged the council to rewrite -- and implement -- Houston's law. She now serves as president of the animal control board. Friday's meeting of the board didn't produce any amendments to the law -- only the city council can do that -- but Rohr said the city is working on a fee schedule that's more friendly to kennels.

"I have stamina, and I don't care who tries to not do it, it's gonna get done," Rohr said Friday.

The board's meeting last Friday wasn't a formal hearing. The board and Houston Mayor Dale Adams simply heard from concerned citizens and tried to explain the city's position. Adams said the city would search for grants to help implement its animal control program and also rely on license fees to fund it. When the process started, Adams was new to the mayor's office and said he would look into funding alternatives other than property taxes.

At the meeting, Plettner said she wants the city to enter into an agreement with the borough and use property taxes to spread the cost out over the city.

"If your gonna do it properly you need real money," Plettner said.

Houston's animal control officer is John Hodge, a new city employee who lives outside of city limits but volunteers at the Houston Fire Hall. Hodge has been leaving notices at people's doors to inform them of the new code. When people are home, they usually appreciate Hodge calling, he said, but that wasn't the case when he stopped at Plettner Kennels.

"I haven't issued any citations yet, and I don't intend to until I get everybody informed," Hodge said. "I thought it was a nice thing to notify [Plettner], apparently it wasn't."

Rohr said she hoped more mushers will participate in the next meeting of the animal control board which is scheduled for Friday, July 19 at 7 p.m. at city hall. The meeting is another work session meant to provide direction for the city council on how to proceed.