Bexley keeps cap on dog allowance

(by Rachel Scofield, Staff Writer - February 11, 2009)

An ordinance that limits the number of dogs per residence to three is still in effect for Bexley.

"I don't want to give false hope one way or the other," Councilman Jed Morison said. "I don't think we are inclined to rescind our ordinance."

However, Morison said council might allow exceptions.

Councilman Rick Weber agreed, "I don't see (granting variances) as a problem as long as we set guidelines and (determine) how to enforce them."

Factors such as the size of the lot and the size of the dogs could be considered.

Bexley recently forced Janet and Karl Hinch to relinquish two of their five dogs.

The animals had been rescued from "terrible conditions that made them difficult to place," Janet Hinch said.

For two years they worked with one dog to make it suitable for adoption.

Mayor John Brennan, who was bit by a dog in 1995, said he didn't "want to live next door to a dog that (required) two years to rehabilitate" nor did he want children living next door to such an animal.

Councilman Mark Masser said he is a dog lover like many residents of Bexley, but "a lot of residents have a fear of dogs. We have to do what's best for the majority."

Animal control officer Becky Shope said in the last year, there had been 11 violators of the ordinance including the Hinch family.

Shope said in most cases she became aware of the violation through neighbors complaining of barking and foul odors.

The Hinch family gathered the signatures of 25 neighbors who supported the family's right to keep the dogs.

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