By Paula Pyzik Scott

Residents of Bluffton are of two minds over whether roosters make good neighbors. The Village of Bluffton Administrator and legal counsel would like to see conflicts over roosters removed from their to-do lists. However, the Ordinance Committee isn’t ready to make a unified recommendation and will ask Council to discuss and vote on the issue, possibly as soon as the next meeting on September 9 (7:00 p.m., 3rd floor Bluffton Town Hall).

At the August 12 meeting of Council, Village Administrator Jesse Blackburn requested that the Council consider adding roosters to the list of animals prohibited in the Village. He said that the Village’s responsibility to provide “abatement” (the language used in the related Bluffton ordinance)  doesn’t give him adequate direction. Legal council Elliott Werth added that if there are no complaints, you can’t enforce an ordinance. This is to say that if your rooster doesn't cause trouble, the village won't come looking for him.

At the August 26 meeting, Ordinance committee member Mitch Kingsley announced they would ask Council to determine whether to prohibit roosters in the Village.

Bluffton’s animal ordinance is HERE and related excerpts are below.

 § 90.03 ANIMAL NUISANCE.

   (A)   It shall be unlawful for a person, owner, or keeper to permit or cause an animal to create or maintain a nuisance.

   (B)   (1)   Nuisance defined.

         (a)   Any act of an animal or its owner that disturbs the rights and privileges common to the public; or that diminishes enjoyment of private property; or that damages real or personal property; or that threatens the safety of a member of the general public; or that diminishes the general health and welfare of the public.

         (b)   Actions defined as a nuisance include, but are not limited to:

            1.   Allowing an animal to be at large;

            2.   Allowing an animal to cause damage or to soil the real or personal property of another;

            3.   Allowing an animal to habitually or repeatedly disturb, interfere with or annoy human beings;

            4.   Allowing an animal to chase, snap at, or otherwise molest persons or other animals;

            5.   Allowing an animal to loiter on public or private places; or

            6.   Keeping or harboring an animal that is diseased or unsafe to the health of the public without seeking the care of a licensed veterinarian.

      (2)   Also, see R.C. § 955.11 for definition of a dangerous dog and rules for transferring ownership of such.

   (C)   If the Zoning Officer or a law enforcement officer observes a violation of this section or the Zoning Officer receives a written, signed complaint from any other person alleging that any person, owner, or keeper is creating or maintaining a nuisance by keeping an animal, the Zoning Officer shall cause the owner or keeper of the animal in question to be notified that a complaint has been received; shall investigate the situation; and shall prepare a written report.

   (D)   The written report of the Zoning Officer shall include a decision by the Zoning Officer of whether a violation of this section has occurred.

   (E)   If the Zoning Officer determines that a violation of this section has occurred they shall issue a written order to abate the nuisance to the person who is keeping the animal. The person who is issued the order to abate shall have a period of ten days to abate the stated nuisance.

   (F)   If, after ten days as is designated in an abatement order, the nuisance is not abated, the owner or keeper may be issued a civil penalty or other appropriate legal remedy, which may include an order: to register for a permit; to remove the animal or animals from their property; to pay a fine; to restore, repair or pay for damage caused by the animal; or to take specific measures to mitigate the nuisance condition. Such order shall include a period within which such action must be completed, not to exceed 30 days.

Excerpt from § 90.02 PERMIT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN ANIMALS; FEE.

 (D)   Prohibited animals.

      (1)   It shall be unlawful for any person to keep, maintain, or have possession or under his control live within the Village of Bluffton any of the following animals:

         (a)   Any animal declared protected or endangered by the U.S. Department of Interior or the Ohio Revised Code;

         (b)   All venomous reptiles and venomous snakes;

         (c)   Bears (ursidae);

         (d)   All wild Canids, that is: wolves, foxes, jackals, dingo, coyote;

         (e)   Civet;

         (f)   Crocodilians, that is: alligators, crocodiles, caimans, gahrials;

         (g)   All wild cats and hybrids of wild and domesticated cats;

         (h)   Anthropoid apes;

         (i)   Marsupials;

         (j)   Procyonidae; or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procyonidae

         (k)   Non-domesticated weasels.