BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Bossier City councilman goes back to the drawing board as he tries to address the stray animal issue.

Chris Smith, Bossier City Councilman At-Large, proposed an original ordinance that would require all cats and dogs within city limits to be spayed or neutered.

Smith says he is concerned about the stray animals in the city who may be hit by cars or end up attacking other pets.

“We want to look out for the animals and their wellbeing as well,” said Smith. “Because the last thing that taxpayers want is us bringing in a bunch of animals that we’re having to spend money on vet bills and feeding and ultimately euthanization because that’s not cheap either,” Smith said.

The councilman also said he has received a fair amount of feedback on his original ordinance. The City of Bossier City Item Fact Sheet was submitted on March 14.

The ordinance was taken out of today’s city council agenda in order to revise it and for exemptions to be added. The revisions will also change the verbiage of the legislation.

Smith contacted local veterinarians and rescue groups seeking feedback before rewriting a new version of the ordinance.

He hopes the new language will better implement the policy.

“Responsible pet owners and responsible citizens are not technically being punished or having a bunch of bureaucracies that they have to go through just to own a pet.”

KTAL NBC 6 reached out to Bossier City Animal Control about the euthanasia rate, and they could not give us the exact numbers at the time.