Dog ordinance close to passing in York
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 22, 2005
YORK-York Mayor Carolyn Mitchell Gosa left no doubt to her council members and others in attendance at Monday’s City Council meeting as to where her priorities were. Gosa had recently been the source of rumors that she did not live in the City of York. However, Gosa took the rumors head on Monday and assured everyone where she was and what her priorities were.
“There have been a lot of rumors that I have this big nice house in Demopolis that my husband and I live in,” Gosa said. “That is not true. I am from York. I am for York and I live in the city limits of York.”
Gosa said she did not want her citizens to think she was deceiving them in any ways and hoped to clear the air with her announcement.
“I just want to clear it up in the community,” Gosa said. “I like to shoot straight and I want to do that now. My husband is the pastor of a church in Demopolis, he is principal of a school in Linden and he travels every morning to Marengo County. But I live in York and I am here for York.”
In city business, the council reviewed their possibilities for a dog ordinance once again. The ordinance is based on similar acts in place in the city of Irondale.
City Attorney Nat Watkins said the ordinance will be very clear in the restriction of dangerous animals, but some will be an exception to the rule.
“There is one thing that people need to understand,” Watkins said. “If they registered their pit bulls before the ordinance passes they will be grandfathered in. They can keep the dogs, but they will still have to be confined.”
The offspring of grandfathered pets will not qualify. Watkins said there would be a time limit on getting puppies out of city limits before action will be taken.
“If they breed them the puppies will not be grandfathered in,” Watkins said. “They will have to sell them within a certain amount of time and they will have to sell them to people outside of the city limits.”
The city also said their regulations will likely be altered to include any dogs who have a reputation for attacking unprovoked such as Rotweillers or any dogs who have been known to attack unprovoked. Under the ordinance all dogs will be kept in a pen and not chained to a tree and when dangerous dogs are walked they will have to have a leash and muzzle.
The official vote will come at the next meeting.