Saturday, August 9, 2014

Letters to Commissioners Still Needed!

The draft ordinance on legalizing goat was positively received by the Law & Courts Committee in April. They decided to vote on the ordinance in the fall after a new Ingham County Animal Control Director is hired, so that the director could have input on the issue.

It's not too late to write to your commissioner to show your support for keeping dwarf & miniature goats in Ingham County!

Urban Goat Class held by Shannon Branstner and Bob Peña

Bob Peña and his sister Shannon Branstner hosted an urban goat care class at Bob's house on Vine St. in Lansing this morning. They had a good turnout from neighbors and other folks interested in learning about keeping goats in the city.

Bob recently brought home two Dwarf Nigerian goats. He had done his research on care and housing of goats, and had designed a barn for chickens and goats four years ago. He had the goats for a total of 10 days before he had to remove them due to complaints received by the Ingham County Animal Control Board.

Bob's goats were very visible in the neighborhood for the short time they lived on Vine St. They became popular with many of the neighbors. Folks stopped by to see them, pet them, and feed them. Several of the neighborhood kids would also help Bob brush the goats.

Thanks to Shannon and Bob for hosting this class to increase public support for goats! We hope that they will soon be able to legally keep dwarf goats on Vine St.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

We need your support before April 17th!

Ingham Country residents, if you support this issue, please write to your county commissioner today!

Commissioner Todd Tennis will be presenting a revised draft of the urban dairy goat ordinance to the Law & Courts Committee of the Board of County Commissioners on April 17, 2014.

We need your support now! Please email or write your commissioners to let  them know that you support urban dairy goats in Ingham County. Visit our Show Your Support page to find your commissioner and to get help with writing your letter.

Please visit our Facebook group for more information about this issue.

What happended in 2013

The issue of urban dairy goats was back before the Ingham County Animal Control Advisory Board at their meeting on January 29, 2013, which received some local press. Commissioner Todd Tennis decided to prepare a draft ordinance for the March 25th meeting.

The Animal Control Advisory Board recommended Commissioner Tennis' draft ordinance at their meeting on March 25, 2013.

This group met several times between April - December 2013 to discuss revisions to the draft ordinance, including minimum space for goats, how to manage waste, requiring at least two goats, and exempting goats under 12 weeks of age from minimum numbers of goats allowed.