Editor's note: Updated with image of actual lost dog sign
Gardner posted this sign in several locations about her missing dog.
/ Courtesy: Jody Gardner
NEWARK, OHIO -- After Newark city officials told one pet owner her missing dog signs were "illegal," many sympathetic pet owners began advocating for a new sign and zoning ordinance.
Jody Gardner posted more than 100 red and yellow yard signs asking for help after her Afghan hound, Flower, went missing in December. But some of her signs were removed after officials said Gardner did not properly apply for a permit and that they posed safety hazards, according to the Newark Advocate.
"She never really had a permit," City Engineer Brian Morehead told the newspaper. "We started getting complaints from people seeing them all over the place. Nobody has inundated the town like she has."
While the city has allowed many of the signs to stay up, Gardner said the permit only allows them to remain for 30 days--a problem for owners who don't find missing pets within a month. She is now lobbying for changes
“When you’re looking for a missing, living thing, that may not be reasonable, depending on how long a person or an animal has been missing,” Gardner told WBNS.
What do you think, do city ordinances on signs bar pet owners from finding their missing animals, or are they necessary to protect other residents' rights? Weight in below.
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