Family asks city for leeway on dog limit law

Jocelyn and Josh Becker have two rescue dogs and would like to adopt a third, but there’s one problem.

The couple and their children live in the City of Port Washington, which limits the number of pets a family can have to two dogs and two cats.

So Mrs. Becker wrote a letter asking that officials consider increasing the number of dogs a family can have. Their alderman, Pat Tearney, read the letter at the Common Council’s meeting last week.

“There are many sweet dogs and animals that need to be saved, rescued or adopted into forever homes — homes with people that will love them unconditionally, treat them right and take care of them in the way they deserve,” Mrs. Becker wrote.

Many neighboring communities allow families to have more than two dogs, she wrote, among them the villages of Saukville, Grafton and Thiensville and cities of Cedarburg and Sheboygan.

Becker said the couple have adopted two mixed-breed dogs from Tailwaggers 911 in Grafton since 2014 — a 5-year-old boxer-Lab mix named Jethro and a 3-1/2-year-old shepherd mix named Rex.

The dogs came from a high-kill shelter in Georgia originally, she said, but they fit right in with the family.

“He almost chose us,” she said of Jethro. And when the family decided to give him a canine buddy, Rex fit right in too.

And recently, realizing how many dogs need a loving home, they took the first steps toward adopting a third dog.

But Tailwaggers 911 requires families to follow local ordinances, and when Becker looked into Port’s she was surprised to discover the two-dog limit.

The family knows several people who have more than two dogs, she said, and a city employee told them that many people who have more than two dogs simply don’t license them.

But Becker, a kindergarten teacher, said she needs to follow the rules.

“I feel that’s really important,” she said. “I know there are people in the community who want to help the dogs, they’re just not licensing them. I’d rather do this in good faith and the right way.”

Becker said she hopes the Common Council will consider a more flexible rule so the family and others like them can provide a forever home for more animals.

“It would be nice to get another one,” she said. “They bring so much to your life. They’re like our babies. We take them everywhere with us.”

City Administrator Mark Grams said Tuesday that the two-dog limit has been part of the city codes “since before I came here.”

“They felt that was the right number of pets,” he said, noting that in the city the houses are on relatively small lots and neighbors don’t want to deal with such nuisances as barking dogs.

Occasionally, Grams said, he gets a call from someone asking about the limit.

“I tell them, ‘You do what you want. Unless somebody calls or complains, we really don’t do anything to enforce it.’”

There’s only been once that he recalls the city forcing someone to get rid of a dog.

“It was a really mean dog,” he said. “All the neighbors were complaining.”

Grams said it’s up to the Common Council if it wants to take a look at the limit on the number of pets that are allowed in the city.

“I haven’t heard anyone talking about it,” he said. “It’s up to the council.”