My Amendment Proposal

Here's my proposed amendment to the Animal Control Ordinance. I've looked at similar ordinances from other cities and tried to incorporate all the important parts into the template that was used for the Ingham chicken ordinance.

INGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

ORDINANCE AMENDING THE INGHAM COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL ORDINANCE TO PERMIT KEEPING MINIATURE GOATS IN NON-AGRICULTURAL AREAS

ORDINANCE NO._____

An Ordinance to amend the Ingham County Animal Control Ordinance to permit the keeping of miniature goats in non-agricultural areas of the County.

            Section 2.  Amendment.  Article VIII of the Ingham County Animal Control Ordinance, entitled Prohibition of Livestock or Poultry in Non-Agricultural Areas, is amended to read as follows:

(a)        No livestock or poultry shall be owned, kept, possessed, harbored or kept charge of within the boundaries or any non-agricultural area within Ingham County except as such places are provided for shipping said livestock or poultry.

(b)        ** Section (b), which discusses the keeping of chickens on non-agricultural land has been omitted.

(c)        Notwithstanding paragraph (a), and unless expressly prohibited or regulated by a city, village or township ordinance, or private property restriction, miniature goats may be owned, kept, possessed, harbored, and kept charge of within the boundaries of any non-agricultural area within Ingham County, under the following conditions:

            (i)         No more than three (3) miniature (not more than 100 pounds) goats may be kept at the same time on any one- or two-family residential property, except that nursing offspring may be kept on the property until the age of twelve (12) weeks, and shall not be included in the number of goats allowed;

(ii) All male goats must be neutered;

(iii) Goats must be kept in an enclosure so constructed or repaired as to keep the goats confined on the owner’s property;

(iv) There must be at least one hundred and thirty (130) square feet of land space for each miniature goat as well as adequate shelter space for each goat.

(v)       All feed and other items associated with the keeping of goats that are likely to attract or to become infested with or infected by rats, mice, or other rodents, shall be protected so as to prevent rats, mice, or other rodents from gaining access to or coming into contract with them.

 P.S. sorry the alignment is all over the place! Can't figure out how to fix it in Blogger.