Northglenn Pet Ordinance Causes Community Outcry

Angelique Feemster, a 20-year resident of Northglenn, shares a home with her brother and parents, as well as 12 pets. Each person has four dogs of their own and the breeds range from Siberian huskies, Samoyed mixes, American bulldog terriers, pit doodles, pomeranians, an American pit bull and an Australian cattle dog. 

“We never intended to have 12 dogs,” Feemster said. “Three of them were rescued out of a shelter and it’s just how it happens. They’re awesome. We clean as best as we can; we try to stay on top of it and make sure they are up to date with their vaccines.” 

Despite years of living happily with a dozen animals, Feemster is outraged by a Northglenn ordinance passed on March 10 that limits households to four or fewer pets per residence.

“It’s ridiculous because it’s been like that [where there is no change] for like 20 to 30 years now and you’ve had that luxury of having unlimited pets,” Feemster said. “You’ve had a lot of people who were moving to Northglenn because there wasn’t any restriction on the amount of pets you could have.”

The ordinance’s goal is to reduce pet noise and waste while providing a balanced environment for Northglenn residents. It will go into effect on Aug. 1 of this year and codifies the policy that citizens can either have up to four dogs, four cats or a split between the two. Other pets are not subject to this ordinance. 

If pet owners are over the limit, they have been advised by the city to file a “previously owned pet exception”  before the deadline, where they are allowed to keep the number of pets they have as long as it’s disclosed with the city. If pet owners don’t disclose to the city by the deadline, they may face a court order requiring them to remove their pet from the household. 

“I didn’t vote for this,” wrote Frank Vega on NextDoor. “I’ll remember this next time elections roll around. Also, each council member voted yes.”

With this new ordinance on the way, some residents question why this is happening now and are curious about how it will affect their household. Many also wonder how local law enforcement will police this ordinance. 

“How are they going to keep track of our dogs?” Feemster said. “Are they going to follow up every year? Are they going to come and ask us, ‘Hey, who’s still alive?’ How are they going to keep it regulated and keep the data going?”

To answer Feemster and other pet owners’ questions and concerns, Bucket List spoke with the Public Information Officer of Northglenn, James Burlison, to get a better understanding of how the policy will be implemented. 

“We’re not going to randomly knock on your door and check,” Burlison said. “The only times this will come into effect is if we get a complaint from a citizen about a neighbor’s dog being noisy, their backyard smells like poop [or] if it’s affecting their quality of life. We will go do our check, and if you’re found to be in violation, our officer would give that person a citation that has a court date attached to it. They would come to court, the judge would review the case, issue their ruling and then that person would have to follow whatever ruling the judge put down.” 

Burlison adds that not only is Northglenn the last city in Adams County to enact a pet ordinance, but the mayor and city council were prompted to do so after receiving complaints from some residents about their neighbors’ excessive dog ownership. Residents have also complained to the City about how noisy they were and how their backyards were filled with feces; this led to the city council working with the police department to do research and pass this ordinance. 

“This is nothing out of the ordinary and we’re not trying to encroach on our citizens’ rights to own pets,” Burlison said. “We pretty much just want people to know that if you’re going to own pets, you need to do it responsibly.”

Moreover, to ensure pet owners that they aren’t going door-to-door to take away owners’ pets if they are over the limit, Lieutenant Kelly Shelly posted a video on Facebook to clarify any misconceptions. 

“We recognize the concern and confusion surrounding the recently passed pet ordinance in Northglenn and we would like to provide some clarity and reassurance,” Shelly said. “First and foremost, the Northglenn Police Department will not be actively seizing pets. We are not conducting door-to-door checks and we are not removing animals from loving homes.”

Another pet owner who asked to stay anonymous also didn’t agree with the new pet ordinance, but they felt like they had no choice but to file an exception this coming August. 

“I don’t feel that I should have to, but I’m going to because I was terrified like when I first found this out,” the resident who currently has five chihuahuas said. “I’m going to safeguard my pets. It just sucks because I had a bigger dog that we had to put down due to cancer and we were always talking about getting another dog to maybe be the protector of my little Chihuahuas but we can’t do that now because I don’t want to buy another dog by the deadline until finances are good again.” 

The anonymous resident attended the city council meetings and believes that the council did not conduct enough thorough research to determine whether this new ordinance will actually reduce noise and waste while also creating a healthy balance between residents and animals. They claim that the city is only doing this so Northglenn matches up with the other cities that have this pet ordinance intact.

“This deserves a more thorough and honest portrayal of the circumstances surrounding the decision,” the resident said. “We already have two ordinances already in place that speak to excessive noise and excessive poop concerns. They made it seem like a bunch of people were [complaining], and I think it’s a lie.” 

On the other hand, some residents of Northglenn like the new ordinance and hope that it will reduce the noise and waste in the neighborhood.

 “Wow. That’s great,” commented Dave S. on NextDoor. “I always thought it was two. I would hate to have to hear four barking dogs.”

Ultimately, the City argues that this is a necessary step to ensure the prosperity of Northglenn.

 “I do think there are responsible pet owners that have more than four cats or dogs, and I do think you can own more than four pets responsibly, but the fact is a lot of those people don’t,” Burlison said. “So we’re trying to better our lives for our pets, better our lives for the people of Northglenn, and we’re just catching up with every other city.”

Feemster, on the other hand, disagrees, claiming that regardless of how many pets people have, there will always be noise and waste on the street as a result of nuisances or pet owners failing to take responsibility for their own pets.

“They’re still going to bark at a squirrel,” Feemster said. “They’re still going to bark at people that come into the driveway. [The Northglenn pet ordinance] won’t change anything when it comes to them being loud. It’s just how they are; it’s just going to stay the same.”