Morenci Planning Commission members made some sensible changes Monday to a proposed animal control ordinance. The new wording should help police do their job while giving residents plenty of leeway in selecting pets.

An earlier version, adopted from another community, was based on clumsy wording that would have prohibited any animal not native to Michigan. Sorry, kids, the goldfish, parakeet and hamster have to go. They don’t live here so they don’t belong here.

A closer look Monday got rid of that wording. Instead, Blissfield’s ordinance was examined and mostly taken without change. That community’s version starts off by outlawing any poisonous animals, but then presents a list of about four dozen other animals that aren’t allowed in town.

The hippopotamus is out, as is the rhinoceros, elephant and cheetah, but Morenci planning commission members did strike a few items from Blissfield’s list. Skunks and raccoons can be kept as pets, according to Morenci’s proposed changes, as well as reptiles and spiders.

The field is still fairly wide open for those seeking the unusual. Moonrats and armadillos, porcupines and platypus—they will all remain legal in Morenci. But don’t let them loose. That’s the reason police chief Larry Weeks brought up the issue in the first place.

His concern isn’t so much about what people have in their houses, but he wants to make sure he can act when a pet gets loose. Stray dogs are covered by past legislation, but the report he received about loose pet rats left him unable to take action against the owner.

– David Green, Sept. 23, 2006