Outdoor cats have been the topic of discussion at recent Village Council meetings. On Dec. 18, Council decided not to further regulate cat ownership in the village.

After considerable deliberation and information gathering, Manchester Village Council decided at its December 18 meeting to make no changes to its current ordinances regulating pets within the village limits.

Currently, no farm animals (livestock or poultry) or exotic or wild animals are allowed as pets in the village, and a maximum of three dogs per household is permitted with the exceptions of those holding a kennel license.

The topic came to council in response to some residents’ concerns about the possibility of limiting cats as well, and it was requested that the village consider adopting a new or revised ordinance that would restrict the number of cats that are allowed on village properties.

Chapter 90 of the Village Code of Ordinances outlines the responsibilities and requirements of pet ownership in the village. Among them, “The owner of an animal shall not permit or enable his or her animal to run at large. This action is declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to the public health and safety,” and “The owner of an animal shall not permit or enable his or her animal to discharge its feces on property other than that of its owner unless the owner immediately removes and disposes the feces.”

There follows a lengthy description of the responsibilities of dog owners. Cats, however, do not normally pose the same public health dangers, such as attacks and injuries, as dogs.

Village residents Candace Connon and Jody Sharrow both attended a number of Council meetings to elaborate on cat owners’ concerns with the unfairness of putting cats, particularly those who go outdoors, on a similar basis to dogs under an ordinance.

Communities that have taken steps to provide no cost spay/neuter services and encourage micro-chipping, seem to have fewer issues, they shared. Most animal organizations, shelters, and rescues have switched to supporting “Trap, Neuter, and Release” (TNR) programs and have found it most effective in cutting the number of unwanted animals in an area.

Village Manager Jeff Wallace described efforts in other communities to control animals and came up with very few local jurisdictions that applied ordinances or limitations to cats, primarily because they aren’t often known to harm to a human, although some may consider outdoor cats a nuisance. After additional consultation with the village attorney, Wallace reported that few examples exist and coming up with a legally-defensible ordinance would be time consuming and potentially expensive.

Council’s decision was to not change the current ordinance significantly by adding any limitations on number of cats, but rather to make minor adaptations to address inconsistencies between sections of the ordinance that were adopted at different times.

Cats will, however, be expected to be “under the control of its owner and (kept) on the owner’s premises,” which will be enforced by the WCSO animal control.