Selma City Councilman Corie Bowie is dealing with a stinky situation.

An ongoing battle between horse owners within city limits and their neighbors could prompt tighter restrictions on property owners with livestock.

The main complaints, Bowie said, are the smell of manure and horses breaking free from their designated areas and wandering onto the highway.

The issue, Bowie said, is something the city has been dealing with for years.

“This is not a new problem for us,” he said. “It has been brought up to other administrations. But, lately we have been getting more complaints that these horses are ending up in somebody’s yard in property adjacent to them. It’s been more of a problem lately.”

As in the past, Bowie said there are a number of concerns on how to handle loose horses.

“I’ve addressed this concern to our animal control guy and we have concerns about how we can address this problem,” he said. “If we got the horses where would we put them? We’re in the process of negotiating with someone that might want to go in a contract with the city, but it’s not finalized.”

The city, Bowie said, will also work with other cities to discuss their approach to similar problems.

If all the pieces were in place, Bowie said they would take a similar approach with horses as they do stray animals.

In 2007, the city, along with then Chief of Police Jimmy Martin, began working to establish restrictions and a list of issues that must be resolved before the city could begin a full-scale effort at enforcing livestock codes and ordinances.

The first of the city’s concerns is transportation issues. Unless it secured outside help, the city would need equipment capable of pulling heavy loads.

Housing issues for the animals was also mentioned.

Treatment of sick horses, and feeding and care for the animals were also listed as concerns if an ordinance were put in place.

One of the largest concerns for the city was liability issues. In a letter to Martin during 2007 discussions, Lt. David Evans said “Some livestock will have a significant monetary value. We must make sure that personnel are equipped and trained to properly transport, care and house the livestock. Failure to do this will expose the city to liability issues of the livestock, or an employee, is injured when dealing with the livestock.”

Bowie said it is important to move forward in addressing the concerns of the citizens, as well as the city.

“This is a quality of life issue also,” he said. “This is a problem we want to alleviate as much as we can. We are going to have to work out the dynamics. The manure smells and that is just a quality of life issue.”

Bowie said discussions will continue among city officials and landowners to find a suitable solution.