Wichita City Council creates Animal Control Advisory Board

Plagued by complaints about dog bites, feral cats and noisy roosters, the Wichita City Council on Tuesday created a new board to oversee animal control issues.

The Animal Control Advisory Board will review and make recommendations on city animal ordinances, take community input on animal-related issues, encourage spaying, neutering, licensing and microchipping, and measure and report on the effectiveness of animal control efforts, said police Capt. Doug Nolte.

“Our intent, our desire, is to bring the community into this discussion, to allow them to give input so we can move together in a progressive manner and get our animal control where it needs to be,” Nolte said.

Janet Wilson, a community activist, said her neighborhood has had problems with dog bites. She urged the council to create the committee to help police deal with those cases and other animal-related complaints.

“They have been responsive to the dog issues and animal issues, with the roosters crowing at 5 o’clock in the morning and 8 o’clock in the evening,” she said. “They are being highly proactive on this, and I highly encourage you to vote for this, so that we can get started on controlling our animals, but also controlling our people that own the animals.”

The advisory board will include the police chief and animal shelter supervisor, or their designees, plus seven at-large members appointed by the council, according to a staff report.

Nolte said applications to serve on the board will be made available soon.

The vote to create the board was unanimous.

“From what I understand, this will be a positive step in our continuing work on animal control, which as you know I have a significant interest in,” said council member Janet Miller. “For many reasons, from horses to roosters, to many kinds of creatures.”

She wasn’t the only council member who has fielded complaints about other people’s animals.

“All the council members have had several instances and issues with this,” said council member Jeff Blubaugh. “At our (District 4 constituents’) breakfast Saturday morning, a large percentage of the conversation was around dog bite issues and animal control issues.”

One problem is that people aren’t sure whom to complain to about animal issues, so they go to their council member or the mayor, Nolte said. He said the new group could serve as a “sounding board” for those community complaints.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Wichita City Council creates Animal Control Advisory Board."