Westport selectmen: Time to act on animal registry

Members chide Board of Health for slow pace

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 10/11/18

They are willing to give the Board of Health another month or so to see if any sort of animal site registry is developed, but Board of Selectmen members agreed last week they may need to step in to …

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Westport selectmen: Time to act on animal registry

Members chide Board of Health for slow pace

Posted

They are willing to give the Board of Health another month or so to see if any sort of animal site registry is developed, but Board of Selectmen members agreed last week they may need to step in to push the slow-moving matter forward.

BOS Chairwoman Shana Shufelt called for discussion on the situation and asked Board of Health and Agricultural Commission members for comment.

After an hour and a half during which the chairmen of both those boards described the process so far, several selectmen expressed frustration with the pace and direction.

“I, for one, would advocate for much stronger keeping of animal regulations than you are currently considering,” Ms. Shufelt told BOH Chairman William William Harkins. These can be improved over time, but work on registry and regulations need to get started. And she added that she believes such a site registry ought to be mandatory, not voluntary as the BOH recently decided.

“We can’t let another year go by where we just talk about it,” said BOS member Ann Boxler.

AgCom Chairman Raymond Raposa said he and his board believe that regulating tenant farms is the key since they are the root of animal issues in town (he added that he has not supported the idea of an animal site registry.) If there are 300 properties in town, Mr. Raposa said he thinks that over 95 percent have had no problems whatsoever.

It’s “not just tenant farms, there are problems across the board,” countered selectman Steven Ouellette. “Having on-site slaughterhouses in the woods should be avoided at all costs.”

Selectman Richard Brewer said he would like to see the “slow pace” of action quickened. “Our focus should be to act on animal abuse … we need to give this some urgency. Time is moving on.”

“We need to give the Board of Health a month or two to finish their process,” added Brian Valcourt. “I’d rather we all be on the same page … but it’s been frustrating” that this process that began back in 2016 is still dragging on.

And, “if we really want this to be effective, we really need to find more money” for animal control so that if a regulation is approved “it will have enforcement.”

Ms. Shufelt began the discussion, in part, to see if the BOS should have any part in developing or overseeing some form of animal site registry or regulations. By the end, the board seemed to agree on a target of having a bylaw, or warrant item, “something,” — in place for the next town meeting. To accomplish that would require preparation by late December or early January.

Mr. Harkins said the BOH has been meeting repeatedly on the matter and is moving toward regulations aimed at tenant farms with two or more tenants. And he said the board recently agreed to a “first step” farm animal site registry that would be strictly voluntary.

The stage currently collects confidential ‘barn book’ information on some farms in town, but the town does not typically have access to that information, selectmen were told.

Audience member Constance Gee noted that selectmen were told that some 111 to 115 farms undergo barn book inspection but “we hear from Mr. Raposa … that there may be 300 to 500 properties that hold animals here.” She called that a “huge discrepancy. … We need to know where these places are. All sites should be part of barn book inspection.”

Of the BOH and AdCom, Ms. Gee said, “”It is very clear from both proposals that they are doing the absolute minimum that could possibly be done. This is not a proactive stance to try to get any problem solved.”

Selectmen also agreed to have a discussion about the animal inspector job at an upcoming meeting.

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