Deer Park council to adjust limits on animals

Deer Park's City Council is working on reconciling two conflicting city
codes that limit the number of dogs and cats residents can have on their
property.

One ordinance on Deer Park's books says residents can't have more than two
dogs and two cats over 8 months old on their property. Another sets the
limit at three dogs and three cats over 6 months old.

The council and the Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a hearing
Tuesday night on a new ordinance that if passed would replace both current
ones. The proposed new ordinance, if passed, would limit animals to "no more
than a combined three dogs or cats over 6 months," says City Manager James
Stokes.

Stokes says Robert Lee of the city's Animal Control department initially
pointed out to the Council that the city had two conflicting limits.

"All we're trying to do here is just take those two that conflict with one
another and mesh them to where we have one consistent policy," Stokes says.
He says the discrepancy hasn't caused any enforcement or legal problems yet,
but has the potential to if it's not resolved.

"I think the gist of the ordinance as it's written is to prevent someone
from having, if they live within 150 feet of another resident, you don't
want them having an excessive amount of animals just because of the noise
and the potential for bad smell," Stokes says.