By: Brian Wells | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published March 25, 2026
EASTPOINTE — Under a proposed overhaul of the city’s animal control ordinance, Eastpointe animal control officers could soon have broader authority to protect pets, including breaking into vehicles to rescue animals in distress.
The current ordinance was approved by the City Council on Dec. 17, 2019. City Council members heard the proposed amendments for a first reading at the March 17 council meeting.
According to the agenda item, the ordinance proposes changes to protect animals in a variety of situations.
Some of the proposed changes include requirements to keep animals safe while traveling in motor vehicles, microchip requirements for dogs and cats, prohibiting ducks and creating care standards for rabbits and other exotic animals, clarifying the limitation on the number of dogs that may be kept in a residence, and adding a requirement for the spaying and neutering of cats.
The ordinance currently provides exceptions to the spaying and neutering requirement for animals with health issues that have been verified by a veterinarian.
The changes were compiled by the city’s animal control officers, chief of police and city attorney.
At the City Council’s March 17 meeting, Eastpointe Chief of Police Corey Haines said the changes were long overdue.
One of the changes to the ordinance would allow Eastpointe officers to break a window or the lock of a vehicle if an animal is locked in it and appears to be in distress. Councilman Rob Baker asked what kind of signs the department might look for to determine if an animal is in distress.
Many vehicles with remote starts, he said, may continue to run while the owner is in a store, keeping the temperatures comfortable for the animal.
“I don’t know the signs of distress of an animal, so I truly don’t know, but I am concerned that if a window has to be busted out, if the vehicle just shut off and the temperature is still good in the vehicle, I might be two minutes from coming out of the store,” he said. “I hate to come out and see a busted window or a busted lock and I was literally walking right out of the store.”
Haines said it isn’t so much about whether a vehicle is running or not, but more about the condition of the animal. Animal control officer Ashley Sanchez said signs of distress might include panting and salivating, and in extreme cases, seizing.
However, before taking an action that might damage the vehicle, Sanchez said officers will make several attempts to locate the owner.
“We’ll go actually in all these (stores) to say, ‘Hey, can you guys make an announcement over the intercom,’ as long as the animal’s not in distress,” she said.
Sanchez added that the department also carries temperature readers that can determine the interior temperature of the vehicle from outside of it.
“It’s not so that we primarily just go in over there, and if we see a dog or cat, we’re just going to break the window. That’s definitely not our goal,” she said. “We just want to make sure if, in the event there’s something serious that has happened to an animal, we have the jurisdiction to act fast.”
Haines added that leaving an animal in a hot car is also a felony.
Another change to the ordinance includes a $500 fine and a possible jail term of up to 93 days for violating the ordinance’s spay and neuter regulations for pets.
According to Sanchez, this only applies to households with cats of opposite genders, where neither is fixed.
“For being an intact male and an intact female in the residence, as long as one of the sexes are fixed, then there’s no violation,” she said. “It’s just to prohibit it from breeding and having hoarding situations.”
Haines added that the violation is a last resort.
“It’s a warning. We try to get cooperation, and if we cannot get cooperation through the warning for any one of a number of reasons, but mostly, if they’re just refusing to do it, then it gives us the ability to issue the violation,” he said.
All of the animal ordinance violations are considered misdemeanors, Haines added.
A second reading of the ordinance has been scheduled for the City Council’s April 7 meeting.