County supervisors in Cumberland are set to gather public input on an amended animal control ordinance that would allow for a more liberal rule regulating dogs running at large.

The county’s current ordinance stipulates that dogs may not run at large except from November-February of each year.

The proposed ordinance change states that dogs may not run at large April-June of each year, according to County Administrator and Attorney Vivian Seay Giles.

“His recommendation is that we have the same as Buckingham’s [ordinance],” Giles said of the animal control officer’s proposed changes, “which is that dogs have to be confined April, May and June of each year. And then the other recommended amendments are just to clean up our ordinance. There’s some erroneous code references to the state code. …”

According to the amended ordinance, “Run at large refers to a dog that is roaming, running or self-hunting off the property of its owner or custodian and not under its owner’s or custodian’s immediate control.”

“It’s not a leash law,” Giles said. “They may not run at large during April, May and June.”

The proposed ordinance would liberate when dogs could run at large, she said.

“I’m just recommending amending it so that it looks more like the state code because that’s what we have to go by anyway,” she said of other proposed changes in the ordinance.

“Any person who permits his dog to run at large or remain unconfined, unrestricted or not penned up during the period specified shall be deemed to have violated provisions of this section,” states the ordinance.

The ordinance prohibits any hybrid canine from running at large in the county anytime of the year.

“It shall be unlawful to own or posses a hybrid canine unless such hybrid canine is kept and maintained in a pen or enclosure. …,” the ordinance states.

According to the ordinance, a hybrid canine “means any animal that is or can be demonstrated to be a hybrid of the domestic dog and any other species of the Canidae family. …”

The ordinance also specifies the licensing fees for dogs. A county license for one dog is $4, for a kennel of one to 10 dogs is $30, for a kennel of 11 to 20 dogs is $40 and for a kennel of 21 to 50 dogs is $50.

The ordinance also addresses the treatment and regulations of dangerous dogs, vicious dogs and service dogs.

The public hearing will be held during the board’s Tuesday, Dec. 8 meeting at 7 p.m.