By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Somewhere in Levy County government, there must be a dark administrative hole that can swallow ordinances that never see the light of day again.

            The new Levy County Animal Services Ordinance is one such legal document. It was discussed in a Levy County Commission public workshop on Oct. 20, 2020, and promptly vanished from view.

            It’s actually three ordinances. The main ordinance defines civil violations for neglect and abuse of animals, the second defines and sets rules regarding aggressive dogs, and a third ordinance lists fines.

            After the workshop ended, Former County Attorney Anne Bast Brown said a few minor changes would be added to the ordinance based on comments in the workshop. She said the ordinances would be delivered to commissioners, County Judge James. T. Browning and then State Attorney Bill Cervone for review. She said it would be heard in two public hearings.

            The ordinances haven’t been seen since.

            County Coordinator Wilbur Dean said the lack of final action on the ordinance resulted from a combination of factors centered around the retirement of Brown. She retired on June 30, 2021, more than eight months after the Oct 20, 2020 workshop for the animal services ordinance.

            “There were a lot of things that went into it. I’m not throwing her (Brown) under the bus; there were few other moving parts with that,” Dean said. “We were supposed to have a bunch of public hearings, then with her retirement, other issues were moved to the front burner to get done.”

            Asked if the county would start over again with the ordinances when a new county attorney is hired, Dean didn’t think a fresh start was needed.

            “I don’t know that we would start over again. We’ll see where we can pick up from,” Dean said.

            “How high will the animal services ordinance be on the priority list?” Dean was asked. “You are the county’s chief administrator.”

            “I’m the administrator, but I’ll see what the board’s directive is,” Dean said.

            “So the board will determine that?”

            “Yes,” he responded.

            The lost ordinance came to light when a Spotlight reader Diane Gregoli Marchand commented on the story about the two county attorney applicants, saying the county should hire someone who could move the animal ordinances forward. The two applicants for county attorney, Walter W. Bullock, and Nicolle Shalley will be interviewed by county commissioners at Tuesday’s board meeting beginning at 4 p.m.

            County Commissioner Lilly Rooks, who oversees animal services and is a fierce defender of its director, David Weatherford, didn’t return phone calls asking her for comment on the animal services ordinances.

            One of the criticisms of the ordinances at the 2020 workshop came from Bob Levesque, founder of Levy County Animal Friends, Inc. who said the ordinance shouldn’t grant Weatherford the right to overturn or dismiss violations issued by his animal control officers. Commissioners didn’t discuss Levesque’s comments.

            Former Chiefland Citizen Editor Lou Jones said she felt the ordinances unfairly discriminated against cats by requiring all cats that are 4 months old or older to be spayed or neutered unless a veterinarian certifies the animal is unfit for surgery or the cat is used for breeding purposes.

            The ordinance also prohibits residents from feeding and caring for “outdoor cats,” another name for feral cats, which are three months of age or older. The idea is to discourage feral cats from breeding. The breeding populations of feral cats expand the number of wild outdoor cats running loose in the county.

            Jones said she has always sterilized her cats but she felt it was unfair to impose the mandatory spay and neutering regulation on cats but not on dogs.

Commissioners also didn’t like Levesque’s idea for mandatory chipping of cats and dogs. Installation of an electronic chip identifies the animal for life. Commissioner Rock Meeks said he felt voluntary chipping of animals would work in Levy County.

            But nothing is going to happen until the ordinances are brought back for public discussion.

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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt September 5, 2021;Posted September 5, 2021