A Powell woman had to find a new home for her Nigerian pygmy teacup goat, as city council members are sticking with their limits on in-town pets.

The City of Powell generally bars its residents from owning a variety of animals — from goats and cows to chinchillas and venomous frogs.

But Venus Bontadelli approached the council on Monday night to request an exception for “Porsche Lane.” The 4-month-old, 10-pound goat “is part of our family,” Bontadelli told the council, and she’s been planning to have the goat certified as an emotional support animal.

A couple neighbors wrote letters of support for Porsche Lane, but council members expressed concern about the precedent they would set if they approved Bontadelli’s exotic pet permit.

“It’s a very difficult situation for us, because it opens up a door for the next person through …,” Mayor John Wetzel said.

Councilman Troy Bray indicated he would be open to revisiting the city’s animal ordinances, but he did not support making an exception.

“I don’t think a pygmy goat is that big a deal,” Bray said, “but we don’t want a whole herd of Nubians [another goat breed] running around town, either.”

He later made a motion to effectively reject Bontadelli’s request, which was unanimously passed by the council.

Buyer beware

The issue came to light in late May, when the Powell Police Department received a complaint about the goat, Chief Jim Rhea said in an interview; he indicated the caller doesn’t live in Bontadelli’s neighborhood, but saw the animal.

The department’s community service officer then contacted Bontadelli and informed her about the city’s prohibition on in-town goats. He also noted that she’d need to get rid of eight of her 12 chickens, as the city only allows four chickens per lot.

Bontadelli told the council this week that she was unaware of the ordinances.

In fact, when Bontadelli and her husband purchased their home on East Adams Street last year, she said their realtor indicated there wouldn’t be any issues with having small cows, goats or chickens.

“If we had known otherwise, we would have continued looking elsewhere,” Bontadelli wrote in a letter to the council. She noted that her property, which is about 500 feet from the city’s eastern edge, is zoned industrial limited and has an energy company across the street.

However, the rules for pets apply to every part of the city.

“It’s a shame that somebody led you astray and said [that] should be no problem,” Wetzel said at Monday’s meeting, “because it clearly says, ‘no goats.’”

Following the city’s process, Bontadelli sought an exotic pet permit for Porsche Lane. However, Rhea concluded that, under the city’s ordinances, the only way Bontadelli could keep the goat was to submit an appeal to the council.

Bontadelli asked the council members to approve a three- to five-year “grace period” for her goat; she explained that she and her husband are actively looking for a rental in rural Powell and eventually hope to buy a different house in the country.

“I just wanted to at least come and plead her case,” Bontadelli said.

Supportive neighbors

Porsche generally stays indoors and wears a diaper, Bontadelli said, and the animal will get no bigger than 20 pounds. Alongside her request, the Bontadellis submitted a couple photos of the goat and two letters of support.

“It would be very nice to have her [Porsche] remain as a part of our neighborhood,” wrote Yvonne Crowhurst, “as much of what we hear all day long is loud metal pipes being dropped into a dumpster or the constant sound of the industrial air conditions from the buildings around us.”

Unlike some of the constantly barking dogs in the area, the goat is “a pleasure,” Crowhurst said, “not an annoyance.”

Another neighbor, Noah Faxon, said the goat had been quiet and a positive addition to the neighborhood.

“I believe there is room for flexibility when the situation is peaceful, responsible and supported as this one is,” Faxon wrote to the city.

The council, however, didn’t believe it was wise to bend the rules. Wetzel noted that, years ago, the city also rejected a resident’s request to keep a Vietnamese pig.

“You make an exception for this and really, it becomes kind of a razor-thin line for us,” he said.

Multiple city officials described the situation as unfortunate, with one councilman offering a “sorry” to Bontadelli as she left the podium Monday night.

On Wednesday, Bontadelli said that Porsche Lane is going back to her breeder, who plans to keep the goat until the family is able to have the animal live with them again.