In July the Bibb County Board of Commissioners took over the Macon-Bibb Animal Control Shelter. Since then, they've been trying to make improvements to make the shelter up to code and less crowded.

One proposed ordinance may have the key to both those problems and pet owners in Macon and Bibb County may now have a new responsibility.

Sarah Tenon is the Director of Animal Welfare for Bibb County and presents the proposal. "We reviewed the spay and neuter proposal that was proposed my councilwoman Nancy White," she says.

The ordinance presented to the Bibb Board of Commissioner sparked several questions about how these new rules may be govern. “There are some aspects of the ordinance that I think present some huge enforcement issues," says Lonzy Edwards, Commissioner for District 1.

Edwards feels like right now the county does not have the staff to enforce some of the regulations in the ordinance, but believes this draft is a step in the right direction. "It's a work in progress,” he adds. “We fully expect that it will take some time to get it right."

If passed the ordinance will require that owner get their pets spayed and neutered before they reach six month, other regulations include limiting the amount of litters per home in an attempt to keep the number of strays in the area to a minimum.

"That would encourage the owners to go ahead and spay and neuter, that is what we are after,” says Tenon. “We are after controlling the pet population. “


The next thing is to bring the two entities, The City of Macon & The Bibb County Board of Commissioners, together so that we can get a workable ordinance," says Tenon. She adds that she will continue to modify the ordinance until there is an agreement on the table the both governments can agree on.

Edwards expressed what he thinks will help reach the finish line, "Having the ordinance re-examined reworked having the terms better defined and enforcement issues dealt with."

Tenon wants the kinks to be ironed out quickly. She says she has federal grants that can help the ordinance be a success. "We hope to have it pretty soon we want to work this hopefully in conjunction with out pet smart charity grant,” she adds.

The Pet Smart grant is for 100,000 dollars that are expected to reduce the cost for pet owners getting their pets spayed and neutered.