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Bellbrook residents challenge limit of 2 pets per household

The Snyder family of Bellbrook, Ohio, Ron, Lisa and daughter Nicole along with the Snyder's three dogs Bessie, right, Bennie, center and Beau, left were told by the city of Bellbrook that owning three dogs was against the law. The city of Bellbrook has banned owning more than two pets. The Snyders hope to change the city's zoning law.

JIM NOELKER The Snyder family of Bellbrook, Ohio, Ron, Lisa and daughter Nicole along with the Snyder's three dogs Bessie, right, Bennie, center and Beau, left were told by the city of Bellbrook that owning three dogs was against the law. The city of Bellbrook has banned owning more than two pets. The Snyders hope to change the city's zoning law.

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 9:57 AM Saturday, January 30, 2010

BELLBROOK — When longtime Bellbrook residents Ron and Lisa Snyder moved back to the city in 2009 after two years in Nevada, they had no idea they were violating a city ordinance by bringing along their three dogs — a Brittany, a Jack Russell, and a rat terrier/border collie mix.

Now the Snyders and another couple, Rob and Yvonne Holton, who have three Siberian huskies, are at the center of an effort to change Bellbrook’s zoning ordinance, which limits residents to no more than two cats or dogs.

“We had no idea there was a limit on the number of dogs you could have,” a choked-up Yvonne Holton told Bellbrook’s Planning Board on Wednesday, Jan. 27. “If we would have known, we never would have gotten the third. But now we have her, and I don’t want to get rid of her. They’re part of my family.”

Bellbrook is one of the few local municipalities, along with Piqua, that restricts residents to two pets per house. Animal control officials in Cincinnati and Columbus said they were not aware of any communities with limits of two.

Kim Intino, spokeswoman for the U.S. Humane Society, called a two-pet limit “overly restrictive” and said if laws on animal care are well-enforced, the number of pets should matter little. Local rules vary from city to city and often are not well-advertised.

“If you were moving into Bellbrook and wanted to find out (the policy), you’ll never find it unless you read every word on every page (of the city’s Web site),” Snyder said. “And somebody with three dogs isn’t even going to think about checking. Maybe if you had five or six, sure.”

Bellbrook’s Planning Board has agreed to schedule a public hearing in the coming weeks on whether to raise the maximum number of cats or dogs to three.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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