The Kenai City Council will consider mandatory court appearances for repeated violations of animal control ordinances, rather than just paying a fine.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, the council will vote on an ordinance amending code to require that animal owners who violate control and treatment of animals ordinances three times within a 12-month period will have a mandatory arraignment before a judge. Currently, owners are just required to pay a fine.
The ordinance states that requiring an animal owner to go to court and “address the owner’s control and treatment of their animal that is frequently not being controlled or treated properly is intended to curb the conduct that the city’s fine provisions have been unsuccessful in addressing.”
The ordinance also clarifies the definition of a “vicious animal” as an animal that has done unreasonable harm to a human or an other animal in a hostile manner or has been found to be a dangerous animal by the court twice.
If passed, the ordinance, introduced at the Feb. 6 Kenai City Council meeting, would go into effect sometime in March.
“It is important to the public welfare, health and safety of residents that animal owner’s in the City properly control and treat their pets in a reasonable and responsible manner,” according to the ordinance.
The agenda for Wednesday’s council meeting also includes a discussion of Amazon tax collection in the 99611 area code.
The Kenai City Council meeting will be held on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in the Kenai City Council chambers.
Reach Kat Sorensen at ksorensen@peninsulaclarion.com.
