CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The feeding of seagulls will continue to be a popular pastime, or nuisance, in Corpus Christi.
A ban on the feeding of seagulls, raccoons, stray animals, and excessive amounts of cats or dogs was among a list of proposed revisions the code of ordinances regarding animal care and control.
Those changes were scheduled to be considered at Tuesday's city council, but that vote has been postponed.
Assistant city manager Neiman C. Young said in an email to KRIS 6 NEWS, "The ordinance amendments have been tabled. This is due to the fact that the proposed amendments will lead to a major overhaul of the ordinance."
A violation of the "don't feed the animals" ordinance could have led to a $300 fine.
Other changes would have replaced yearly registration tags for pets with a lifetime microchip.
Animal Care Services was also proposing changes to address the problem of aggressive dogs and rules for the proper sheltering of pets.
Young also stated that "because there are such major revisions suggested, the ACS Division believes it needs more time to educate the public on the proposed changes before taking it to Council for consideration."
Animal care ordinances were first adopted on March 25, 1981, and have not been revised since Dec. 14, 2014.
The proposed changes that had been scheduled for a vote on Tuesday were approved by the Corpus Christi Animal Care Services Advisory Board on Jan. 20.
A KRIS 6 News Twitter poll on Friday asked viewers if they thought the ban on feeding animals was a good idea.
Just more than 42% said they thought it was a good idea, while 54.4% said it was not a good idea.
City Council will vote on several proposed changes to animal care ordinances next week. One proposed change would allow animal control to take action against those feeding raccoons, seagulls, stray animals, and excessive amounts of cats and dogs. Do you think this is a good idea?
— KRIS 6 News (@KRIS6News) April 23, 2021
