Kiski Township supervisors toss animal regulation proposal amid pet alligator escapes

Regulations governing the keeping of animals in Kiski Township are unchanged, for now.

Facing a crush of public criticism and opposition, the township supervisors voted Wednesday to toss out the draft of an ordinance governing everything from pets to farm animals. It specifically would ban crocodilians, including the American alligator.

“I don’t want to ever talk about it again,” said Supervisor Dylan Foster, who ripped a copy of the draft ordinance in half.

However, strengthened regulations regarding certain exotic pets, including alligators, could still be coming.

Township Solicitor Myron Sainovich drafted the proposal, which he called a model, following the capture of a juvenile alligator along the Kiski River in August and word that another its owner claimed escaped remains at large.

Based on various regulations from other municipalities, Sainovich said it was only intended to give supervisors something to consider — and not to be made law as written, or even to be seen by the public.

“We have alligators that have been in the river. Now, did they come from Kiski (Township)? I don’t know, but that’s a problem,” he said. “Nobody wants to take away your dog, or your cat, or anything else.”

Township Secretary Patrick Bono accepted blame, saying the proposal should not have been on the supervisors’ agenda or part of the meeting.

“I screwed it up,” he said. “This whole thing was an accident.”

Chairman Chuck Rodnicki said they had no plan to vote on the measure that night.

“There are things in here we do not like, I’ll tell you that upfront,” Rodnicki said, needing to tell the crowd to let him speak. “It was put out prematurely. It should not have been. This is a draft for the supervisors to work off of and to make adjustments to, and additions, corrections and deletions. That’s what this is.

”It should not have been put out. It was put out prematurely by mistake.”

Residents slammed it as overreaching and unnecessary. Several said they chose to live in Kiski Township for the benefits country living provides, including having animals. Others said they do not trust the supervisors and feared that any rights given up could never be gotten back.

One resident said township officials kicked a hornet’s nest, resulting in the standing-room-only audience that filled the meeting room and stretched into the hallway.

“We don’t need any more rules and regulations here,” one man said. “We moved to the country to live in the country.”

Supervisors Rodnicki, Foster and Jeff Snyder voted to get rid of the proposed ordinance. Supervisors Richard Frain and Mike Bash were absent.

“It was a misunderstanding. It’s a shame it got to this point,” Foster said. “It will be taken care of, but not with that.”

Rodnicki said after the meeting that township officials will look to update and revise an existing ordinance from February 2021 that regulates “exotic, venomous and dangerous animals,” including crocodilians.

While that ordinance requires residents possessing exotic animals to notify the township or its police department, Bono said the township has no such records.

It also requires owners of exotic animals to immediately notify 911 and township police of any escape, which Sainovich said was included in the new proposal.

Sainovich said the existing ordinance is unenforceable because it’s not specific enough. Updates could include strengthening it through the addition of language referencing court decisions since its adoption more than two years ago, he said.

As for the proposal that angered residents, Sainovich said, “I’m sorry it turned into something like it did tonight.”