Town of Whitehall targets loose animals

By Dan King

Whitehall town officials are looking to crack down on those who let their animals run loose.

Officials said they were concerned with animals getting off their owners’ property and running around the town, so the board asked town attorney Erika Sellar-Ryan to draft a proposed law to stop the practice.

The law would target any and all domestic animals, pointing out the safety concerns and the damage that can occur to other people’s property when animals are allowed to roam free.

The law reads: “The Town Board of the Town of Whitehall recognizes that failure to confine cattle, horses and other domestic animals and allowing said animals to roam free and to trespass on public and private highways unattended and on public and private lands without permission of the owner or possessor of such lands, are injurious to the health, safety and welfare of the Town of Whitehall.”

Sellar-Ryan said that Vern Scribner, the town’s enforcement officer, would be allowed to issue tickets under the law, as would any sheriff or State Police officer, and if it occurred in the village, Whitehall police could issue tickets.

“Anyone who can write a ticket can write a ticket on this law,” Sellar-Ryan explained. “It’s probably going to be primarily used for fines. The hope is that if you keep getting $100 fines, you’re going to decide to spend that money on fixing your fence instead of paying more fines.”

The law states that the punishment could either be the aforementioned $100 or up to 15 day imprisonment for each offense.

Sellar-Ryan added that if someone is a “habitual offender”, the town would have the ability to take the offender to court under the new law. She said that there is “an impoundment section to give a little more leverage.”

She said that the law had to find the perfect balance of cracking down on the offenders, while not being overly restrictive on other farmers.

“You can’t do anything that is what’s called ‘unduly burdensome to farmers,’ because Ag and Markets really rules this area,” Sellar-Ryan added.

Supervisor George Armstrong, as well as councilmembers Dave Hollister, Farrell Prefountaine and Stephanie Safka, voted in favor of the proposed Local Law No. 1 of 2015, citing the safety issues with loose animals. Councilman John Rozell abstained.

Officials said they also wanted to look into a law regarding how much living space is required for an animal, referring to issues of animal neglect on a Route 4 property earlier this year, but Sellar-Ryan said that such a law could fall into the “unduly burdensome” category and would be tough to enforce.

A public hearing on the proposed law will be held at the next town board meeting on June 10. After that, the board will vote.