SYRACUSE — Sy racuse Town Manager David Wilkinson again brought an animal waste ordinance to the council Tuesday evening for discussion and possible adoption. He said he brought it last month with an exclusion for horses, so he brought two versions to them Tuesday — one with horses excluded one without.
He said the reason horses were excluded was because it’s hard to enforce and other towns tried and had issues.
Council member Cindy Kaiser said, “I don’t like the horse waste.” She later added, “Community members contact me about the horses, not dogs.”
Scherer asked Police Chief Jim Layne how he felt about enforcement, and he said what Wilkinson said was true.
Council member Paul Stoelting asked what difference there was between horses and dogs when it comes to enforcement. Layne admitted it is a little hard if they don’t see the act, but they take the complaints.
Town Attorney Jay Rigdon said, “You’re not going to do a DNA test, but one difference is horses cover a larger area than dogs. We tend to walk our dogs in our neighborhood.”
Stoelting asked Layne which version of the ordinance he recommended, and Layne said the one without horses, unless they’re going to require horses to wear a bag that catches the manure and other towns have tried that but weren’t successful.
Scherer said, “I think it’s reasonable to expect people to clean up after their animals.”
Council member Bill Musser said people aren’t going to stop their carriage and jump out and clean up after their horses.
Scherer called for a motion on one of the ordinances and didn’t receive one, so the ordinance failed for lack of a motion.
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