Auburn amends animal excrement ordinance, hopes Amish will pick up horse manure

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When they arrived they agreed to clean up any messes left behind by their horses;

AUBURN — The Logan County city of Auburn is dealing with a messy situation. When the Amish come to town to work and shop, their horses leave droppings in the streets. Some residents have complained about the mess and smell. City leaders are hoping an animal excrement ordinance will help clear the air.

Mayor Dewey Roche said this has been a problem since the Amish first moved into the area. When they arrived, Roche said they agreed to clean up any messes left behind by their horses, but that hasn’t been happening.

“They say they want to be part of the community,” Roche said. “And we want to get along.”

The city has an ordinance that deals with the removal of dog excrement, which stated that animal owners must have a device for the removal and/or containment of the dog’s excrement. At the City Council meeting in March, council members voted to amend the ordinance to cover all animals, thus addressing the problem with the horses.

However, Roche said that in talking to members of the Amish community, some didn’t seem pleased with the new rules.

“They said they’d just go to Franklin,” Roche said.

This has some local business owners worried they may lose customers. Glen Sears, owner of Glen’s Hardware in Auburn, said the Amish shop in his store often and he’d hate for some of his customers to go elsewhere.

“I don’t like horse manure, either,” Sears said, “but I do like the other kind of green.”

Sears said the Amish have talked to him about the situation. They have concerns about putting some sort of device on their horses to catch manure, as some had suggested, fearing the device could spook the horses.

As for cleaning up after the horses, Sears said that should be uniformly enforced.

“If they’re gonna make the Amish do that, they need to enforce it with dogs, too,” Sears said.

City Councilor Rex Evans agreed and was the lone vote against amending the ordinance to include horses.

Evans said the residents he’s spoken with aren’t that concerned about horse manure in the streets.

“People said there are more pressing things going on,” Evans said, “more than a pile of manure in the middle of the road that will be gone in 30 minutes.”

Auburn resident Lynne Thomas said she thinks the city should leave the Amish alone.

“They’re a valuable asset to our community,” Thomas said. “They provide a service with their fruit and vegetable stands, and their horses don’t leave the same carbon footprint as our vehicles.

“They’re part of our community and we’ve accepted them in our community,” Thomas added. “You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

Councilor Gayle Gregory, who owns and runs the Auburn Pool Hall Restaurant, said some residents don’t mind and others do. As a business owner, she understands both sides of the issue. The Amish eat at her restaurant and are good customers, she said. But if a customer steps in horse manure on the way into the restaurant and tracks it in, “that’s not very appetizing,” she added.

Gregory said she hopes that amending the ordinance will encourage the Amish to be more diligent when it comes to cleaning up after their horses.

Roche said that was his hope as well, and he and Sears said they have already seen some Amish stopping to clean up horse manure.

The City Council still has to approve the amendment to the ordinance and will vote on the first reading at its 6 p.m. April 11 meeting.

“They’re good people,” Roche said of the Amish. “I’m hoping that we don’t have to go any further, but we are prepared to cite them.”

By PAM CASSADY
The Daily News, Bowling Green