The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published January 28, 2015

City passes first reading of animal ordinance

By Jeff Thompson
CAMDENTON - The city is one step away from new animal control regulations after being dogged by the issue for several months.

The Board of Aldermen gave first-reading approval to the proposed animal control ordinance after a pit bull ban that the city had in place for a number of years recently came under fire.

A resident had appeared before the board on Nov. 18, 2014 saying she had been forced to sell her home and move her two American Bulldogs out of the city limits because of a misunderstanding concerning the city’s pit bull ban.

Misty Brown - the bulldogs’ owner - has remained committed to encouraging city officials to change the pit bull regulations and was present at the Jan. 20 board meeting last Tuesday night.

Mayor John McNabb described the new ordinance as an overall approach to animals in the city with one section devoted to dogs, one to cats and one to other animals.

He noted that while the new regulations still allow residents up to three dogs, it does limit pit bull ownership.

McNabb said the new rules will allow pit bulls - but only one per household, and that can be the only canine in the home.

“That needs to be their entire focus,” McNabb said of potential pit bill owners.

Before the board voted on the issue, a man identifying himself as the former landlord of Brown’s spoke out against the measure.

Steve Morris claimed that there has been an overabundance of ordinances being changed - both locally and at the national level - because of people who have been “supposedly victimized.”

He said ordinances have to contend with entire populations, not just certain individuals.

“I hope you don’t waste time on the ‘victims’,” Morris said of the proposed ordinance.

He also claimed that Brown had broken a lease with him and that a $2,000 judgment had been rendered against her in Small Claims Court for breaking the lease.

According to online court records, the $2,000 default judgment in Camden County Associate Circuit Court was made against Brown on Jan. 8, 2015.

However, it was not clear what the Small Claims Court judgment had to do with Morris’s argument against the new animal control regulations and Morris offered no clarifications.

Alderman Sandy Osborn called the new ordinance a work in progress.

“We’re trying to accommodate everybody in the city,” Osborn said. “Right or wrong, we’re trying to do what’s best.”

Osborn clarified her position.

“You can’t have responsible dogs without responsible dog owners,” she said.

Alderman Dan Hagedorn suggested the board only hold a first reading of the ordinance so the aldermen could further examine the new rules.

“We should postpone it,” Hagedorn said. “We don’t want to ‘Pelosi’ this, to pass it so we’ll know what’s in it.”

After the board granted first-reading approval, both Morris and Brown left the room. In the City Hall vestibule, Morris raised his voice to Brown and she replied in an equally loud voice.

Public Works Director Bill Jeffries entered the vestibule after hearing Morris and Brown begin to argue; they both left City Hall without incident.

At the Nov. 18, 2014 board meeting, Brown had said she was first told by a City Hall employee that her two dogs did not fall under an ordinance banning pit bulls.

However, Brown stated she later received a visit from the city’s animal control officer along with a police officer and was issued a citation because her two dogs met five of eight characteristics listed within the pit bull ban ordinance found within Section 210 of the city ordinances.