Brookhaven’s animal control policies regarding cruelty to animals and rabies control in dogs and cats have changed to now reflect the policies of the state.

The Brookhaven Board of Alderman voted to adopt the updated animal control ordinances and merge them with the existing policies Tuesday.

City attorney Joe Fernald presented the board with facts about each ordinance at a work session held before the board meeting, and then asked for a motion to accept the additions during the meeting.

“I’m going to ask you to adopt Mississippi code section 41-53-1 through 41-53-13, which has to do with the public health and treatment of rabies control in dogs and cats, and to adopt section 97-41-1 through 97-41-23 as ordinances of the city of Brookhaven to support and be merged with the current ordinances that we have,” Fernald said.

“We will merge them in so they read in a narrative form, and verify that there is no duplication, but these are our statues that the state has adopted on animal control and on rabies control,” Fernald said. “They are already the law of the state, we’re just going to adopt them so they will be in our code book.”

The ordinance pertaining to the cruelty of animals outlines the definition and types of cruelty, and the punishment for the misdemeanor crime. The rabies ordinance states that if a person owns, or is in possession of, a dog or cat three months or older the animal must be vaccinated against rabies.