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Council adopts amendments to animal ordinance, raises penalties and clarifies ‘public property’ language
Summary
After a public hearing, Smithfield's Town Council voted Oct. 7 to adopt amendments to Chapter 126 (Animals) including raising some offense penalties and adding a clarification that certain nuisance provisions apply to public property. Animal Control Officer Robert Salisbury answered technical questions during the hearing.
Smithfield's Town Council voted Oct. 7 to adopt amendments to Chapter 126 of the town Code of Ordinances (Animals), including revised penalty levels and a clarified provision that certain nuisance conduct applies on public property.
At a public hearing, Robert Salisbury, the town's animal control officer, explained that the 2023 ordinance rewrite borrowed language from other municipalities rapidly and that subsequent review and training had revealed wording and citation issues that needed correction. Salisbury said the amendments increase fines for certain offenses (for example, nuisance abatement tied to dog bites) to better reflect the seriousness of those incidents and to align locally with state "vicious dog" penalty ranges.
Council members asked whether a provision (Section 126.8.d) addressing dogs that growl, pursue or fight should specify it applied to public property; Salisbury agreed and the council amended the ordinance language to add "public property" to that subsection. Councilmember motioned to adopt the amendments with that change; the motion was seconded and the council voted in favor.
The ordinance was adopted as amended. Council directed staff to incorporate the clarified text into the code and to notify enforcement and training staff of the changes.
