City changes animal ordinance

City of Shelton residents would be allowed a maximum of five hens and no roosters in a proposed animal ordinance.

The Shelton City Council gave preliminary approval to new animal ordinances at its Feb. 15 meeting. The council can vote for final approval at its meeting at 6 p.m. March 1. People are invited to share their comments during the Zoom meeting. The link can be found on the city's website.

Under the proposed ordinance, residents in neighborhoods on land between 5,000 and 43,559 square feet - 1 foot shy of an acre - would be allowed a maximum of five hens and no roosters. Chicken coops and other structures intended to house chickens would have to be set back from any property line by at least 10 feet, and not be closer than 30 feet from any residential structure on an adjacent or adjoining parcel lot.

Council members also talked about the proposed length of dog leashes and registering cats. But most of the talk centered on chickens.

Mayor Eric Onisko suggested banning chickens within city limits because their manure attracts rats.

"I'll be the bad guy - I think we need to do away with chickens," Onisko said. "We have a terrible rat problem in Shelton. We can see rats running across the street everywhere in town."

"I have no problems with chickens," said council member James Boad. "And I have yet to see a rat downtown, and even demo-ing a whole building downtown, I have not seen a rat, but I've heard this from many people."

"Chickens are food security, and I think that is really important," said council member Miguel Gutierrez, who has owned backyard chickens. "The whole circle of life - if you have your food close to you, you don't have to spend energy to go out and get it." Chicken manure can be used for garden fertilizer, he pointed out.

Council member Kathy McDowell said she has been a responsible chicken owner over the years, but doesn't own chickens now. "Families depend on these eggs and depend on the meat," she said.

McDowell added, "There were rats in the city way before the chickens came here."

Council member Sharon Schirman said she owned chickens when she lived in the country. She said she also does not think they attract rats.

Council member Joe Schmit said Onisko's suggestion to ban chickens is "quite a drastic shift." He said he knows the city receives "nuisance calls" about chickens running wild.

"It might be too soon to go to a full-on prohibition of chickens in the city limits," he said.

The council discussed other animals as well.

The original proposal called for people walking dogs to use leashes up to 6 feet long. But the council members agreed to change that limit to 20 feet to allow for retractable leashes.

The ordinance calls for giving pet owners who have their animals microchipped a lifetime license rather than an annual license. Onisko said he doesn't feel the city should require cat registration.

"Our cat problem is feral, not people's house cats," he said.

Schirman and McDowell agreed, but their three viewpoints did not make a majority, so the proposed requirement remains.