The Village of Weston is considering a proposal that would limit the number of animals in each home and require dogs and cats to be licensed.

The Village Administrator Dean Zuleger says the plan would protect the children in the village and reduce the number of stray animals.

He says the village pet ordinance hasn't changed since 1991 and if this new proposal goes through the biggest change would be requiring cats to be licensed.

Zuleger says issues like puppy mills and stray cats prompted the village to revise their pet ordinance. He says they worked on the proposal with the Marathon County Humane Society.

It would limit the number of dogs to two per home and the number of cats to three.

The proposal would also require all cats and dogs to be vaccinated. "We're trying to get ahead of the issue to make sure a lot of our kids are safe from rabies and other issues pets bring if there should be an unfortunate bite" says Zuleger.

Zuleger says enforcing the cat policy will be tough since most are kept indoors but says having all cats in the village licensed will reduce the number of stray and feral cats.

Zuleger says the license fees would range from 5 dollars to 15 dollars and pet owners who don't get their animals spayed or neutered will pay more to keep them in the village.

Zuleger says the proposal was approved by the Public Safety Commission and Planning Commission.
He says the Village Board will review the proposal on Monday, July 7th.