Leash those dogs???

At tonight's Woodstock City Council meeting local resident and business owner Mark Indyke presented petitions to the Council, asking for an amendment to the Animal Control Pet Ordinance. Over 500 people signed the petitions that request elimination of the "At Heel" section in the ordinance.

Mark is owner of local business Dog In Suds, Ltd. on Route 47 just north of Burger King. Over the past few weeks he has talked to hundreds of pet owners, and the petitions tonight contained over 500 signatures. These people are concerned about pets that are off-leash, and Mark said the signers had either been victims themselves of animal attacks or that their own pets had been attacked.

Mark asked me after the meeting what happens next?

Something is supposed to happen? (Of course, it is.)

The City Council accepted the petitions but made no comment or commitment to do anything with them. Will it study the issue? Five hundred signers is impressive. If the Mayor or the City Manager got 500 phone calls Monday morning between 9:00AM-Noon, they'd get the message. Tonight they got 500 signatures, and Mark hopes they will do something about seriously considering the request of 500 people.

Will they?

You can help by emailing your support to citymanager@woodstockil.gov Do it now.

Over the week-end I spoke with a resident whose dog had just completed therapy-dog training. The dog was off-leash and stayed near her. She never raised her voice once to the dog. When I mentioned this to Mark, his response was, "What if an off-leash dog attacked her dog or her?"

He made his point. Want more information? Call Mark at 815.338.3647