If you were planning on re-creating the brood from Walt Disney's "101 Dalmatians," you can go right ahead - provided they don't bark.
A Chattanooga city councilman has dropped his effort to limit the number of dogs a city resident can own, and instead focus on quieting noisy dogs.
Councilman Jerry Mitchell had been working with the city attorney's office to find a way to limit the number of dogs any Chattanooga resident could own. Mitchell and Councilman Russell Gilbert both said they had received complaints from constituents about houses where large packs of noisy dogs were creating a noise problem. Gilbert blamed the problem on dog breeders that operate out of residential neighborhoods.
But after spending several weeks reviewing dog ordinances from surrounding towns, Mitchell said Tuesday he couldn't come up with a number he felt would be enforceable.
Some cities have specific limits of three or four dogs, while others base the limit on the size of residential lots. But Mitchell said that so long as the city had only a limited number of inspectors, a new ordinance would not be effective.
"I looked at it as an enforcement issue, and it is just impossible," Mitchell said Tuesday. The McKamey Animal Center, which handles dog licensing for the city, only has about a half dozen inspectors, Mitchell said, and they already are busy.
He said he will instead try to deal with the noisy dog issue by revising the city's noise ordinance to make it easier for the city to fine the owners of dogs that bark incessantly.
Mitchell's effort was part of a broader council push to revise the way the city licenses dogs and cats. Previously, pet licenses ran through Dec. 31, no matter when they were purchased. But under the new ordinance, the license will run for 12 months from the date it is purchased.
Contact staff writer Steve Johnson at sjohnson@timesfreepress.com, 423-757-6673, on Twitter @stevejohnsonTFP, and on Facebook, facebook.com/noogahealth.