Pet petition falls short on voter signatures

Organizers of a petition drive to overturn a Cape Girardeau city limit on pets have submitted 586 signatures, well short of the more than 2,300 signatures of registered voters needed to force the city council to repeal the measure or put it before the voters.

But Kimberly Necas, one of five pet owners circulating the petitions, said the group plans to submit an amended petition within the next several weeks as allowed by the city charter.

Necas said the petitioners actually had about half of the signatures needed by the 5 p.m. Monday deadline.

But she said she was just unable to collect all the petitions prior to submitting them to city officials.

City attorney Eric Cunningham personally turned over the submitted petitions to the Cape Girardeau County clerk's office Wednesday afternoon.

County elections supervisor Patty Schlosser said she and her staff hoped to have the signatures verified before the end of the day on Friday.

"We are really busy right now. We have in over 300 absentee ballot applications already for the November election," she said.

Once the county certifies the number of valid signatures, the certification will be sent back to city hall.

City clerk Gayle Conrad said she will then fill out a document spelling out why the petition is insufficient. That document will be sent to petition organizers by certified mail. Petitioners will have 10 working days to submit additional signatures.

As a result, the total number of days could amount to two weeks, Necas said.

Necas said she's still hopeful her group will secure the needed number of signatures. "We are trying to think of a way we can get them in mass quantities when we are granted the additional 10-day period," she said.

If that doesn't work, Necas said petitioners may consider going to court to challenge the constitutionality of the new city law that limits the number of pets a person can own to no more than four cats and four dogs.

The city council said it approved the restriction to make it easier for police and animal control officers to enforce the city's animal regulations. But petitioners argue that restricting the number of pets in a home won't deter animal nuisance complaints or address problems caused by irresponsible pet owners.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123