Frisco City Council members appointed seven members on Oct. 4 for the city’s first animal advisory committee to advocate for animals and pet owners.
The appointments began immediately with staggered one- and two-year terms.
Each council member nominated one person for the committee. Places 2, 4 and 6 will serve two years and Places 1, 3, 5 and 7 will serve one year.
“Technically, it’s a mayor’s ad hoc committee, but this was something that was a concoction of all of City Council driven by Laura Rummel, who is certainly our pet enthusiast on council,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said.
After the meeting, Rummel said in a council recap that Frisco is known for many things, including sports and art, but she is glad the city will also be known for being pet friendly.
“We have a lot of animal lovers in Frisco,” she said. “We want to make people feel their pets are supported. We’re going to be working to advocate and educate our community on the different ways to be good pet owners.”
Rummel said the committee will look into hosting microchip clinics and other pet-related events.
Frisco’s Pet Project was glad the committee was formed, according to a Facebook post.
The Frisco group began lobbying to shut down the city’s pet stores that sell puppies after an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States in 2019 revealed that many of the puppies at a Petland location in the city were sick, malnourished or underweight, some without proper veterinary care.
The findings from the investigation led the Frisco City Council to update its animal control ordinance to include tougher regulations.