Pet alternatives should be heard

To the editor:

Kudos to the Southeast Missourian for a great, to-the-point editorial on the proposed pet limitation ordinance. I agree with what has already been said: Our current city ordinance adequately provides for the management and control of nuisance pets. What good does it do to replace one unenforceable ordinance with another? It's a proposal that has been reversed or denied in as many cities as in the ones that the city council researched during this process.

What I fail to understand is how the city council sees the correlation between "imposing limitations" and "making it easier for animal control officers." We all want things to be easier, quicker, more efficient and less cost prohibitive. There are alternatives to old-school pet limitation ordinances that are all of these things and more. I would urge the city council to form a volunteer committee and listen to some of these alternatives -- not just from the humane society, but from the many other knowledgeable, concerned citizens of Cape Girardeau. It could put our city on the cutting edge of animal control, setting a precedent for other communities in similar situations.

Solutions, such as microchips and altering, are valid areas to visit. They could help provide excellent control of animals in the city, while also making it easier to track repeat offenders, incur fines already in the current ordinance and generate income for further use in animal control. Limits create nothing positive for the city, the pet owners or for the animals themselves.

KIMBERLY NECAS

Cape Girardeau