Shelbyville & Bedford County Animal control rules will b

Pits in the news and info on Breed Specific Legislation.

Postby cheekymunkee » February 6th, 2007, 11:00 am

Animal control rules will be presented
Monday, February 5, 2007
By Clint Confehr

New rules and regulations for Bedford County Animal Control are to be presented to the county commissioners' Law Enforcement Committee 10 days from tonight.

And that's just a couple days after Shelbyville's City Council confronts the same question. Both city and county governments are trying to decide what to do about vicious dogs.

Michael Gregory, director of the county's department, has consulted Rutherford and Knox counties' regulations and presented them to a special advisory committee that's been mulling over the question since Jan. 2. The committee apparently has a recommendation for the Law Enforcement Committee's meeting set for Feb. 15 in the courtroom on the main floor of the courthouse.

Reorganization of the county department is part of the recommendation, according to Gregory and Larry Lowman, chief administrator of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, a member of the seven-person advisory committee with Capt. Tony Barrett who also serves as a county commissioner.

The study committee has addressed four issues: vicious dog regulations, rabies control, cruelty and neglect issues, and enforcement procedures.

"The county is growing fast, therefore the animal population is growing, Lowman said. "So, Gregory needs more help.
"We need to get more people on the road to pick up the strays," Lowman said.

Gregory said he won't request funding for more personnel in this fiscal year. That, however, ends in five months (June 30), so "it's definitely something we'll have to look at" for a budget request to take effect when the next fiscal year starts July 1.

The number of animals taken in at the shelter on Lane Parkway is increasing.

"As far as our numbers, year-to-date, they're the highest they've ever been," Gregory said, turning to his most recent report.

Last month, 166 animals were taken in and in January 2005, the department's first year, there were 127 animals taken in, he said. It is, however, unpredictable because 105 animals were taken in during January 2006. Those numbers do not include animals handled by Shelbyville.

More might have been captured if the political debate in Normandy should be considered. The town does not pay the county fee to have animal control officers respond to calls there because its budget is small, according to Mayor Larry Nee. His opponent in the town's November election, now-former Alderman Jim Hill, complained about dogs running at-large. Dr. Beth Meerdink, a veterinarian, has been nominated to succeed Hill and she says Normandy has no more strays than other towns.

Knox County's rules define a vicious dog as one that has attacked and caused severe and gross injuries or death to a human being, or has previously been classified as dangerous and has been the subject in an incident in which, for example, an individual has been seriously injured because of the dog's attack.

Rutherford and Knox counties' regulations have provisions which could lead to the destruction of dangerous animals. An animal's owner could appeal decisions by the animal control department for euthanasia to the court system.

Members of the county's Animal Control Study Committee include Gregory, Lowman, Barrett, Diane Forbes of the local humane association, John Teague of the Agricultural Extension Service, Dr. Bobby West of Cascade Veterinary Hospital and Jeremy Williams of the county health department.

A decision by the Law Enforcement Committee would be in the form of a recommendation to the county commission.
While the county committee's meeting to hear a report on what the study group recommends is at 5 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the courthouse, the Shelbyville City Council's work session on separate regulations is to begin at 6 p.m. on Feb. 13 in the courtroom in the City Hall Annex.





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