Trustees Amend Restrictive Pet Poop Law

An amendment to a new pet law was reviewed by Scarsdale Village Trustees at a meeting on December 20, 2010. The Trustees Law Committee met to revise a recently enacted law that actually forbade pets from doing their business on Village streets and other public property. Under the amended law, pets will be permitted to defecate on any sidewalk, walkway, driveway, public park, playground or public place if the owner or person who has custody of the dog promptly removes any feces let by the dog. Under the amended law, no matter where a pet goes, no violations will be given as long as pet owners clean up after their furry friends.

The Trustees also discussed how long an unidentified dog will be held before being put up for adoption by the New Rochelle Humane Society. The New Rochelle Humane Society is contracted to provide the Village with municipal dog shelter service and does not kill animals.Under the law, unidentified dogs will be held by the Society for five days, and identified dogs will be held for a period of nine days while authorities attempt to notify the owner via phone and mail. Following that period, the dogs will be available for adoption.

A public hearing for the proposed amendments will be held on January 11, 2011 at 8 pm at Village Hall.