Petition on Cape pet rule falls short

A petition effort to overturn a Cape Girardeau limit on pets failed for lack of signatures, city officials said Friday.

The petition drive netted 586 signatures of which 461 were valid signatures of registered city voters.

But that was far short of the more than 2,300 needed under the city charter to force the city council to repeal its new restriction on number of pets or submit the issue to voters.

The city council last month approved a new law that limits the number of pets a person can own to no more than four cats and four dogs.

City attorney Eric Cunningham said petition organizer and dog owner Kimberly Necas was notified by certified mail on Sept. 18 that the petition was insufficient.

Petitioners had five days to notify the city if they intended to amend the petition and submit additional signatures. But Cunningham said Thursday's deadline passed with no such notification.