Thinking back on his eight years as mayor of Cape Girardeau, Jay B. Knudtson recalled an unforgettable encounter with the city’s pet lovers.

Knudtson, who served in the Cape Girardeau mayoralty from 2002 to 2010, said that during his tenure, the City Council began to review and discuss putting a limit on canines and felines within individual households.

“It was 2004, I think, and there was no limitation (then) on the number of dogs and cats that people could have within city limits,” Knudtson remembered.

The reaction to a possible pet restriction was unexpected, Knudtson said.

“The normally quiet and empty City Council chambers were filled to overflowing with citizens who wanted to voice their opinion,” he said.

Former Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay B. Knudtson is seen with the family dog, Bella.Submitted

Knudtson, executive vice president of First Missouri State Bank, called to mind a vivid moment with one person present at the meeting.

“One lady stepped forward and yelled, ‘Mr. Mayor, I know you have a job to do but I’d rather get rid of my husband than one of my dogs!’”

Cape Girardeau’s elected leaders did opt to impose a maximum limit but included a grandfather clause to ensure no one at the time of the implementation of the ordinance had to part with a beloved dog or cat.

Humane Society groundbreaking

Knudtson will offer remarks at Wednesday’s scheduled 10 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony for a new $3.7 million shelter for the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri (HS-SEMO).

Wednesday, by happy coincidence, also happens to be National Dog Day in the U.S.

The new 12,000-square-foot education and adoption center will be built next door to the 1,236-square-foot building Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has used since 1982 at 2536 Boutin Drive in Cape Girardeau.

“We asked (Knudtson) to speak because he understands the asset HS-SEMO is for our community,” said Charlotte Boyce Craig, local Humane Society board president.

“(Jay) always ‘got’ our value,” she said. “He knows more (about us) than anybody.”

Praise for HS-SEMO

Knudtson, in his prepared remarks, plans to give kudos to the local shelter for its work in helping control the pet population.

“This service would come at a high cost if the city was forced to administer it,” he said. “The financial burden would ultimately fall on the backs of taxpayers.”

Craig said the shelter deals with 3,000 animals coming through its doors every year, with almost a third, approximately 800 annually, from the City of Cape Girardeau.

Puppies for Parole

Knudtson will tell groundbreaking attendees he was invited to join a one-day tour of the state correctional center in Potosi, Missouri, approximately three years ago.

The Potosi lockup houses death-row inmates, and many who are incarcerated there spend the rest of their lives in the institution, he said.

The ex-mayor, also a former president of Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents, said he saw some offenders circling the grounds with a dog under their command.

“These offenders were training and treating these dogs with great compassion and precision,” Knudtson said. “It was one of the most unique humanitarian experiences in one of the most unlikely of places.”

Knudtson refers to the Puppies for Parole program, which is supported by Humane Society of Southeast Missouri.

The program, Knudtson said, takes dogs that cannot be placed in a home and facing the prospect of euthanasia and pairs them with willing prisoners at Potosi. The dogs are trained and taught basic commands, allowing them to be adopted out later.

Knudtson said that since 2013, more than 200 such dogs have gone through Puppies for Parole.

The former mayor and his wife, Cindy, are longtime dog owners themselves, currently owning a terrier/shih tzu mix named Bella.