Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.
A Henderson family with two pet emus has rejected the city's offer to settle a dispute over the animals and wants to let a judge decide whether they can keep them.
A tearful Louise Andrews appeared before the Henderson City Council Feb. 15 to ask council members for help in resolving her family's dispute with the city. She said her family would be willing to do whatever the city asked in order to keep the 140-pound birds that are similar to ostriches.
Mayor Jim Gibson told Andrews during the meeting that the city would like the case resolved before it went to Henderson Municipal Court on March 7. Andrews faces charges of keeping wild animals illegally and violating a restriction on keeping fowl.
Andrews said her family wasn't willing to accept what she said was the city's settlement offer of pleading no contest on March 7, getting rid of the emus and seeking a variance from city codes to bring them back. She also said the city offered to strip the conviction from her record within a year if she had no further animal violations.
Andrews said her family dipped into a vacation fund to hire a lawyer on Wednesday and expects to win the case in court.
"I am not going to act like I am guilty and did something wrong," Andrews said. "I told them I will see them in court. I am going to fight it."
Robert Zentz, the city prosecutor handling the case, did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Council spokesman Bud Cranor said it's the city's position not to discuss the case because it is in court. He said council members preferred the case be resolved before it went to trial.
"They would love to have it taken care of without any further heartache to anyone," Cranor said.
The emu case has pitted two city departments against each other. The Community Development Department sent a letter to the Andrewses in October saying city regulations governing the corralling of horses could be used for emus.
City animal control, however, acting on a complaint from a resident in September, declared that the emus were "wild" animals and couldn't be kept on the property. Andrews said the couple who complained to the city lived several homes down from her and moved last fall without ever discussing the issue.
Henderson Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said that discrepancy over what is allowed will be settled by Municipal Judge Douglas Hedger. She said she interprets the city's codes as not allowing emus.
"The judge is going to decide," Cyphers said. "We are not going to make that decision at all. We tried mitigation with her, but it didn't work out. We all feel for her. It is a heartfelt situation that she is in." Andrews said she's trying to build a case for keeping the emus by using the city's codes. A city ordinance allows fowl, and Andrews said the emus qualify as fowl because they they are edible.
She said she needs written permission from her neighbors to quality under the city's fowl ordinance and has already lined up their support. Andrews also said emus shouldn't be classified by the city as wild animals because they only live in the wild in Australia.
Geoff Schneider, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said the state places no restrictions on emus, which are considered exotic animals. He said it's up to local governments to decide if they allow emus.
"There really isn't a problem with them when you look at whether they have the potential to harm native wildlife if they got loose," Schneider said. "They are not going to survive in the wild here."
Cyphers said she suggests Andrews have a back-up plan in case she loses in court. One option would be for her to move outside the city limits into areas of Clark County where emus are permitted, she said.
"She has all the power in the world to fix this," Cyphers said. "If I was in her position and these emus were like family to me, I would look at relocating."
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