First Selectman Patricia Llodra said this week that the Board of Selectmen would appoint a five-member committee in June to oversee the implementation of .
She said the board’s intention is to have the committee in place in time for the opening of Newtown’s new animal shelter at the end of June.
The new policy limits euthanasia by Newtown Animal Control to two restricted circumstances, when the animal is "medically fragile" or is "behaviorally unsustainable."
Llodra observed that those terms might be defined differently by different people. The new committee would only be an advisory body and would not have any decision-making authority, but one of its functions would be to help the town’s animal control officers make those decisions, she said.
A number of active animal welfare groups in Newtown assisted the Board of Selectmen in drafting the new policy.
Llodra said several individuals already contacted her to volunteer as members of the new committee.
