ROCK SPRINGS – Two city ordinances were updated to allow unattended minors and leashed pets into the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery during Tuesday evening’s Rock Springs City Council meeting.

The two ordinances were on their third and final reading and while there was some discussion about leashed dogs in the cemetery over the past few weeks, there wasn’t any discussion about minors.

“Not a peep,” Mayor Max Mickelson said about repealing an ordinance banning unattended minors in the cemetery. “The dogs have been highly controversial.”

Prior to the Council’s approval of the ordinances, a couple of residents spoke in favor of allowing leashed dogs in the cemetery. Dawn Dale said the cemetery is the safest place for her and her dogs to exercise near her home. She said walking her dog along the sidewalk results in dogs at nearby homes coming up and barking at her from behind their fence, but she gets scared when it happens. She mentioned an incident where a woman near Eastside Elementary School was attacked by two dogs and concerns of sidewalks not always being cleared by property owners. With the cemetery, she said the pathways are always cleared of snowfall and the area is well lit. She also said dog owners who already walk their pets in the cemetery have done a good job of picking up after them.

“I’ve been walking in the cemetery almost every day and I rarely see dog poop there,” she said.

Laura Dale also spoke in favor of the ordinance change, saying people who let their dogs roam freely in the cemetery are already violating the city’s leash laws. She believes the leash law is more important to follow.

“The people who are doing that are probably not going to change their behavior now – they’ve been doing it for years,” she said.

Laura Dale said the city’s animal control department is dealing with several loose animals throughout the city and has an overcrowded shelter, saying the division also doesn’t have the time or manpower needed to patrol the cemetery. She said the cemetery attracts a crowd of residents who enjoy walking the grounds and generally support the idea of allowing leashed pets into the cemetery. She also referred to people who oppose the ordinance as people who aren’t using the public space, likening them to “keyboard warriors who have no care for community.”

Councilman David Thompson said the police department still has the dog at large ordinance and can still issue a citation for not picking up after their pets to enforce potential issues. Additionally, the city council could opt to repeal the ordinance later if problems arise from having leashed dogs in the cemetery.

Councilman Randy Hansen said people have been passionate on both sides, saying his initial feeling was to oppose allowing leashed pets in the cemetery, but opted to support it. He said those against it speak from a place of wanting to keep the cemetery a place of reverence and preserving memories and “sincere, emotional moments.” Council members Jeannie Demas and Tim Robinson said they’ve heard a lot of support for the ordinance change.

The change to allow pets did not occur unanimously as Council representatives Larry Hickerson and Rob Zotti joined Mickelson in voting against it.

“I’m going to vote “no” as well due to the fact that I have received a number of calls and a lot of them against,” Zotti said. “I do see this as a cemetery, it’s not a dog park. There’s plenty of other places to walk a dog.”