LINCOLN — The city is making progress toward providing its residents with animal control.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, the council approved $24,113 for the purchase of a 2010 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab and equipment for animal control. Earlier this month, the council appointed Neil Cochrum and Chris White as animal control officers.

“We are in the process of ordering the animal control equipment,” White said.

White said the equipment includes the animal control vehicle, live traps, lead poles, leashes, a tranquilizer rifle, animal transport box, temporary kennel, and other equipment.

“It will take about three months to get the truck,” he said. “We should get the other equipment in approximately a month.”

White said the city is currently looking at options for housing the animals, but no contract has been signed.

“We expect to begin active enforcement around the first of next year,” he said. “By then we should have all the necessary equipment.”

White said he is working with other area animal control officers for information sharing and coordination and knowledge of the area and local animal control issues.

“We expect to be very busy until we reach a maintenance mode,” he said. “We are hoping to reach a maintenance mode after about two years, but it could happen sooner or take longer to achieve.”

White said he and Cochrum have received several animal control calls since the council appointed them as the city’s animal control officers.

“We have gotten calls about loose animals that don’t belong in the neighborhood, stray cat calls, and a couple vicious animal calls,” he said. “Once the equipment arrives and the city contracts with a place to house the animals, we will begin picking up the stray animals.”

White said they are enforcing the city ordinance regarding vicious animals that requires owners of animals deemed vicious to confine their animals.

“I am also working on a draft of an animal control ordinance,” he said.

White said he is studying animal control ordinances from other cities to see what provisions those ordinances have such as limiting the number of animals a person may own depending on the size of the owner’s property and proximity to neighbors, a leash law of some sort (perhaps only in certain areas of the city), and animal registration.

“Those provisions may not all go into the ordinance, but we are trying to see if they are feasible for Lincoln,” he said. “We plan to heavily enforce animal control in our city, and think an animal control ordinance will help prevent many of our animal control problems.”

White said he is pleased by the support from the mayor and council.

“We want to send a message that Lincoln enforces its animal control,” he said.

Mayor Lew Watson said hopefully in the very near future Lincoln will be in the animal control business.

“With the growth of the community, animal control is a needed service,” he said. “We recognize that need and will address it. The council is looking forward to implementing an animal control ordinance tailored to fit Lincoln’s needs.”