City Council Forms Committee to Study Animal Ordinance

After hearing an overview of the city’s animal ordinance, Council voted 6-0 to form a committee to examine possible ways to strengthen regulations on tethering and shelter for dogs.

The six-member committee will include Council members Erica Brown, Max Hyde, and Alan Jenkins, as well as the City’s two animal services officers, Mike Johnson and Jessica Burdine, and a senior staff member to be named by the City Police Chief.

As currently written, the animal ordinance requires owners to provide a shelter structure for dogs that “protects the animal from harsh weather” and includes four sides, a roof, floor, and an opening for ingress and egress, as well as “a clean living environment free of accumulated waste and debris so that the animal can walk and lay down without coming into contact with any waste or debris.” Owners must also provide: “clean fresh water, good wholesome food, veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering, and humane treatment.” Any tethers used must be at least 10 feet long and cannot be used with any choking or prong-type collars.

Council took up the issue after a recent online petition calling on the City to make it illegal for owners to “leave pets leashed and alone or caged outside in dangerous weather conditions for a length of time determined by qualified experts” garnered thousands of signatures. The City currently does not regulate temperatures and other weather conditions under which dogs may be left outside. Several council members then expressed interest in clarifying and strengthening those sections of the animal ordinance. Once its work is complete, the committee formed on Monday will present its recommendations to Council, which will then consider the matter.

For more from Monday’s Spartanburg City Council meeting, see the full video and roundup of live tweets below.



(Prepared by City of Spartanburg.)