In the wake of a dust up of the status of guinea fowl living in and around the Jordan Meadows neighborhood, the Town of Camp Verde re-examined its animal rules.
The goal was to make some definitions in the code more clear, with the idea of preventing future confusion down the road.
The issue over guinea fowl, a bird not native to North America but now found around the United States, involved a complaint from a resident that the birds were creating a nuisance.
Many residents who enjoy the guinea fowl spoke up on behalf of the birds.
Some confusion arose from how the birds should be classified and what that would mean for what the town had to do about them.
In the end, the Camp Verde Town Council voted to leave the guinea fowl alone.
Last week, the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office, which oversees the Camp Verde Animal Control division, brought a revised set of codes to the Town Council at its Nov. 4 meeting.
The council ultimately approved the new rules unanimously.
“The proposed several amendments are based on holes that were found in a number of subjects,” said Dave Marshall, a Camp Verde animal control officer.
Marshall said that the review of existing codes found some other issues that will eventually need to be brought back to the Town Council in the future.
The new changes include a new definition for what is considered a domesticated animal; Marshall said there wasn’t any definition before.
Namely, a domesticated animal is one that has been bred or trained by humans, essentially losing its ability to live in the wild.
As for what makes an animal feral, Marshall said the town looked at the common dictionary definition along with how things are defined under existing state law.
“An animal that is born in the wild or reverted to a wild nature due to abandonment or lack of domestication,” Marshall said.
It’s also illegal to feed feral animals, Marshall said, unless the person doing the feeding takes legal responsibility for the animal, including making sure it gets its shots and gets spayed or neutered.
That definition required a bit more clarification for some members of the council and members of the public.
Councilwoman Carol German said that looking at the definition of an animal being born in the wild as “feral” might create some confusion.
“Would this mean you can’t put bird seed out?” German asked. “Lots of people do that. I just want to make sure it’s clear that someone can’t complain that, hey my neighbor is putting out bird seed.”
Mayor Charlie German said he would consider birds like that more of a wild animal, arguing that if that weren’t the case, you might be able to make the argument that local farms would be guilty of “feeding” the migrating Canada Geese that stop in Camp Verde.
Camp Verde Marshal Nancy Gardner said that there wouldn’t be any citations issued for hummingbird feeders, for instance.
“Basically a feral animal is one that was domesticated at one time but wasn’t due to abandonment,” Gardner said.
That would include an animal born to a feral animal that would have been domesticated had it not been abandoned.
The rule revisions also examined dogs and cats.
Marshall said that while cats are not subject to leash laws, domestic dogs are and also must be securely maintained while on a property.
Another change is that dogs over the age of four months and not under control have to wear a collar with a legitimate license tag.
“It currently doesn’t say they have to wear the license,” Marshall said.
Another change comes with complaints about feral animals.
If there is a complaint, Marshall said it will be the responsibility of the complaining occupant, property owner or tenant to get rid of the animals.
“We’re no longer in the business of trapping and catching feral animals,” Gardner said.
The town provides a trap lending program to residents, Marshall said, requiring a $50 deposit.
As for cats, Marshall said he’s familiar with around six or seven feral cat colonies in Camp Verde.
Most of those are in existence because someone is providing food to the cats, Marshall said.
“We’ve only found one where there wasn’t a caretaker,” Marshall said.
Marshall said that according to studies from the Humane Society, the most effective way to get rid of a cat colony is to catch cats, spay or neuter them and then release them back into the colony.
Otherwise, simply removing cats might cause the colony to actually grow.
“Typically a cat is replaced by one or more, it kicks breeding cycles into action because they sense some part of the colony is missing, Marshall said.
If a person has been feeding the animal for six days, they own it, Marshall said.
Marshall said the town would have to prove that it has been six days but that most people are actually honest about it when asked.
