Finally there is hope..but is there??????

Ask questions about Animal Control situations and local laws. Several of our members are ACOs and we'll try our best to help you! Please note: this area is not for "bashing" Animal Control Officers.

Postby madremissy » April 29th, 2008, 10:26 pm

I have said several times that the county I live in does not have animal control. Do you see why?? I have to quit bitching and do something about it. I started looking tonight. I found out about the meeting which I missed last Thursday but I will be at the next one. I am going to talk to my neighbor across the way and see if she wants to come. They have actually become very good dog owners. We have talked and they feel the same way I do about the other neighbor's dogs running loose. Anyway. Is there anything yall would suggest that I need to have with me or a list written down. I don't want to go without my ducks in a row. Yall know I am not very good at coming with stuff off the top of my head so if I have it written down nice and professional like it wouldn't hurt. On another note. Our county is one of the largest around. Especially land wise. Very rural but something is needed. Yes we have had a death not long ago from a wild dog attack. We have quite a few packs of wild dogs. With all the wildlife and water supply they can get quite out of control. This county believes that shooting them is the answer. We did have to resort to that one time at our other house when I was down at the barn. It was very scary.
But we need to take control or at least try. Sorry I am going on and on, but I am excited that there is at least talk about help.
I want to help animals and responsible owners. Maybe even educate some people. :D


I found something else that stated they meet every last thursday of the month but I can't find it now to copy it.
Friends of Pike County Animals to Meet on Thursday
The Friends of Pike County Animals information meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the J. Joel Edwards Public Library.

Fundraising and other efforts to bring animal control to Pike County will be discussed. Come and bring a friend.


4.21.08
http://www.pikecountytimes.com/

Dogs Running Loose Are a Nuisance in the Community
4.23.08

Dear Editor,

I am submitting this to you I hope that it will bring the issue of dogs running loose to Pike County and its residents. If you would like to share this with your readers you have my permission.

Dogs are being a nuisance to communities in our area.

Dogs running loose is a growing problem in Pike County on Flat Shoals Rd. and other communities. There is no way to tell if these are wild dog packs or friendly dogs. Dogs running free are causing driving hazards due to all the large freight trucks, dump trucks and log trucks, and other traffic.

This is also a problem for all our children, elderly persons and livestock I am sure everyone knows about some of the problems.

My husband and I had a chain link fence installed on our property before we brought our dog to our home. I love my dog and want to protect her. I know that a fence is expensive but there are other ways that are cheaper to keep pets confined. If people care about their dogs they should keep them confined to their property.

I know there are no animal control laws in the county. If they do pass an animal control law it should require dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered.

Feel free to print this in the paper and on line or share it with Friends of Animals I don’t know if anyone cares or not about any of these issues.

Thank You,
Janie Wilson
Concord



Pike County Animal Control
3.3.08

Dear Editor,

I wish to personally thank the Pike County citizens for their continued support in reference to the animal control issues we have here in our county. The idea of one day actually having a trained county animal control department to assist our citizens with issues is finally on the horizon. Through your continued support, we can get this done.

An animal control workshop was conducted on 13 February 2008 at 3 p.m. and due to the length of the BOC meeting that day, only a few people attended. This workshop was scheduled around the BOC calendars and at least 10 days in advance. Only the County Manager and Commissioner Willis attended and I would like to thank them for doing so. The Director of the Meriwether County Animal Control and Code Enforcement and the Barnesville/Lamar County Humane Society attended and discussed their organizations mission and what kind of assistance they provide for their community. Some good ideas were generated and those are being researched.

A Pike County Citizen who was in attendance spoke up about the lack of county assistance. He passed around pictures of his cattle which were attacked by a pack of dogs. The pictures of the cattle were gruesome, many of the cattle were in bad shape, and the owner had to put many of them down. He called the Sheriffs office, filed a report, and even located where the dogs were. When he appeared in court, the case was not processed due to lack of evidence and documentation. This will not be the last time our citizens have no course of action as the problems will only continue. It is understood that animal control will not stop all the issues. However, the animal control officer can respond to the situation, document the evidence, confiscate and quarantine the dogs in question, cite the owner for not following the Georgia Statutes already in place, and appear in court as a credible witness. An animal shelter will help citizens recover lost pets, provide adoption services, reduce the number of strays, and assist the community in animal cruelty and attack cases. Who at the sheriff’s office can do that? Who in Pike County can do that?
Upon closing of the workshop, the County Manager asked me if I could prepare a budget so actual figures for an animal shelter would be known. I told him I would seek the assistance of Meriwether County animal shelter since they just completed the budget process and are in their first year of operation.

On 26 February 2008, the Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to place the animal control on the next election ballot. The County Manager stated he does not see this coming out of next year’s budget. The actual building and operations costs have yet to be determined. As previously mentioned, I was asked to provide a budget for this project and have not done so. When the actual figures are known, they will be made available. The goal is to let Pike County citizens decide how and what we need to do about animal control. I only wish to provide our citizens the documentation and information I have consolidated to let them know the facts. Animal Control issues will not be an instant fix, but the hope of formulating a plan and completing the action in two or three years is obtainable.

The BOC action is just a step in a direction. You ask what direction? It will be left up to you the citizens to determine if we move forward, or continue to lag behind what our neighboring counties are doing to assist their citizens. We cannot expect our neighboring counties to help us as they are overwhelmed with their own animal control and other community issues. Let’s make the right coordinated effort and move forward.

Thank you.

Don Bailey
Chairman, Friends of Pike County Animals
Pike County

http://www.pikecountytimes.com/let2ed.html
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Postby madremissy » April 30th, 2008, 12:28 am

:idea1: :idea1: :idea1: :idea1: :idea1: :idea1: :idea1: :idea1:
I have been lying in bed thinking about this. The first step to all this is to get people to these meetings. It is all good to have the info and the ideas but with no one to listen or support, what is the use.
Any ideas on how to get people motivated about a real concern in their very own county.
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Postby gayrghts » April 30th, 2008, 2:04 am

Go to a mtg first to see if this is the type of meeting you want to get people to go to....

Then publicize them way more than they are....

Offer people something tangible if they go....

for example.... set up a low cost rabies day in the county.... $5.00 and offer people who attend these meetings and try to help, to either get the $5.00 waived, or to have first dibs in line to get vaccines....

give away freebies from the pet supply companies...

offer people rides

do people want to go but need child care?
get a scouts group to offer free child care in a room at the same building, the scouts can use it for some part of a badge....

do people need donations of dog food... perhaps a dog food supply co could offer some donations....

find out what people need... and offer it....

brownies, cookies, free pizza....
often dominoes and pizza hut's will give you free pizza's for a not for profit group who's doing a gathering
Heather

A dog teaches a (kid) boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.
- Robert Benchley
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Postby Marinepits » April 30th, 2008, 8:57 am

Missy, who responds to animal complaints (abuse, roaming dogs, dog attacks, etc) now?

And who exactly is this organization: Friends of Pike County Animals ? Are they a rescue group or.....?
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Postby madremissy » April 30th, 2008, 10:09 am

Marinepits wrote:Missy, who responds to animal complaints (abuse, roaming dogs, dog attacks, etc) now?

And who exactly is this organization: Friends of Pike County Animals ? Are they a rescue group or.....?

The only peole that respond to anything are the police. In the cities, it is local but if you live outside any city limits it is the county. You can only call if you suspect abuse or in fear of your life. We tried that with the people down the road when the poor female was having puppies left and right, they were wondering, the people were never home and she did not have food or water. We had enough when I had to take some puppies back to the house (which I found two in our woods all cuddled up) and I found skeletal remains of what looked like small dogs from her litter before. We finally had enough after leaving the people notes, putting a make shift pen on her porch for the puppies. The police came and filed a report. She had the gaul to complain about us because we trespassed on her property. I never heard anything about it other than the puppies disaapeared but the neighbors down the road complain that some puppies were dumped on their property. >(
We don't have anything and the dogs are just roaming. Noboby believes in leash laws if there are any here. I was reading some of the laws in Ga but I don't know if they apply. I don't know if seperate counties have seperate laws.
To sum it up nobody really does anything about it. People get annoyed enough with the dogs that are attacking livestock and shoot them. If they don't do anything about it we are going to be overwhelmed with unwanted animals.
At night I can sit outside and just listen to all the dogs barking. We have a beagle that runs rabbits around here that drives us crazy. Sometimes you feel like a prisoner in you own house because I can't even have Kinzyl or Sammy outside on leads without wondering if a dog will come into the yard. And I live on 5 acres.
I would love to help and do what I can to get people interested but what can I do.
This county is a very nice county with very nice people. It is like everywhere, we have people all over with different incomes, some very low but some very high.
I am just stumped and it is something that has been on my mind and now I see an opportunity and I would love to help. But just like I didn't know about the meetings probably other people didn't either. The word has to get out somehow about the meetings to get people there.

Friends for Pike County Animals is I think a couple of people like me that are just trying to get something started and gather information for something that is needed. No we do not have any kind of rescue what so ever. The only one I found no longer exist. The surrounding counties all have animal control but they are NOT no kill shelters. I did see someone at the vet one day who had gone to the shelter and got a lot of the dogs to take to Atlanta so that they would have a chance. I know that a Pitt Bull type of ANY kind does not get release at all. I did find that out. Which is sad. Education is the key.
Sorry so long. :oops:
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Postby airwalk » April 30th, 2008, 12:48 pm

Missy, I just scanned this, but I will do a more thorough read this weekend.

My first response is I think attending the meeting to see if this is a group that you can agree with and help is the first step. Sometimes what sounds good on paper becomes something different in person.

I would caution you to remember that there are always multiple ways of looking at things. There is going to be one faction that wants big changes, quickly. There will be one that wants small changes with a plan and one group that doesn't see the problem.

The middle group is always the one I'm most comfortable with. The ones that want big changes, quickly are often the same groups that bring you BSL - they move very quickly without giving things a lot of thought.

I really hope this is a good thing....anyway I'll read more thoroughly this weekend.
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Postby Marinepits » April 30th, 2008, 1:24 pm

madremissy wrote: You can only call if you suspect abuse or in fear of your life.


In general or just for animal-related calls?

The surrounding counties all have animal control but they are NOT no kill shelters.


In general, most town, county, or state run shelters are NOT no-kill. It just isn't feasible due to the cost it would take to house dogs for a long time. I'm not saying I agree with that, but it's been my experience. Some of the shelters are lucky and don't have a over-run of strays to house and the dogs can stay longer than their alloted time and some are even luckier and have a town population that is very generous and monetarily supportive. However, most are NOT like that. It's a harsh reality when you're dealing with municipal agencies.

Unfortunately, times are very tough everywhere right now and the money just isn't there to help out shelters. When budget cuts happen, shelters are among the first to feel the cuts.

Friends for Pike County Animals is I think a couple of people like me that are just trying to get something started and gather information for something that is needed.


I would highly suggest that you (the general "you") contact your local law enforcement agencies and find out what they want as far as animal control. The vast majority of agencies are under-staffed and under-paid and most would welcome delegating their duties to another agency such as animal control. However, double-check with the law enforcement agencies, your town or county councilmen, and anyone else who will be involved once some kind of animal control laws are passed. You will have to work with these people somewhere along the line, so it's best to get them in on your ideas right at the very beginning. That way you don't step on any toes and they can help you with the local laws and tell you what is feasible and what is not as far as animal control goes.

You (again the general "you") will also have to think about who is going to pay for the animal control position. Who will take charge of the ACO -- who will they report to? What you will probably find is that everyone will WANT an ACO or two, but no one is going to want to PAY for that position. Getting an agency or government to pay for a new position may not be easy -- it may take a tax increase, some creative budgeting, etc. Look into funding at the state level.

Talk to the ACO agencies in your neighboring counties to find out how they got their positions and who they report to.

Look up your state animal laws and see how they are enforced and who is supposed to enforce them.

Above all, when you approach these folks, make your proposals as clear, concise, and unemotional as possible. Say this is what you'd like to see happen and here are your thoughts on how to make it happen. Don't go into these meetings being over-emotional and saying things like "Puppies are dying! Kids are going to be killed by these roaming monster dogs! Oh, the horror!" :wink: Get statistics and articles to back-up your proposal. If you can, get statements from regular townsfolks to back you up as well. The government agencies are FAR more likely to listen to you if you've "done your homework" and make a SOLID proposal.

Be prepared to compromise because you aren't going to get everything you ask for. Fight the big fight now and get animal control established in your county, THEN you can fight the "smaller" battles like getting bully breeds the same treatment as other breeds.
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Postby Marinepits » April 30th, 2008, 1:25 pm

airwalk wrote:I would caution you to remember that there are always multiple ways of looking at things. There is going to be one faction that wants big changes, quickly. There will be one that wants small changes with a plan and one group that doesn't see the problem.

The middle group is always the one I'm most comfortable with. The ones that want big changes, quickly are often the same groups that bring you BSL - they move very quickly without giving things a lot of thought.



I completely agree with Diana on this.
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Postby Marinepits » April 30th, 2008, 1:31 pm

Here are some Georgia state statutes: http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusgast4_8_21.htm

§ 4-8-22. Jurisdiction and duties of local governments

(a) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this Code section, a county's jurisdiction for the enforcement of this article shall be the unincorporated area of the county and a municipality's jurisdiction for such enforcement shall be the territory within the corporate limits of the municipality.

(b) Any county or municipality or any combination of such local governments may contract or enter into agreements with each other for joint dog control services or for the provision of dog control services required by this article and for the separate or joint use of personnel, facilities, and equipment used in the provision of such services.

(c) The governing authority of each local government shall designate an individual to carry out the duties of a dog control officer as provided in this article. One individual may carry out the duties of a dog control officer for more than one local government pursuant to a contract or agreement under subsection (b) of this Code section. The governing authority of a local government may assign the additional duties of dog control officer to any officer or employee of the local government who is subject to the jurisdiction of the governing authority. With the consent of the sheriff, the governing authority of a local government may assign the additional duties of dog control officer to a county sheriff or to a sheriff's deputy. With the consent of the county board of health and the rabies control officer, the governing authority of a local government may assign the additional duties of dog control officer to a rabies control officer appointed under Code Section 31-19-7. A person carrying out the duties of a dog control officer shall not be authorized to make arrests unless the person is a law enforcement officer having the powers of arrest.

(d) The governing authority of a local government may provide by ordinance or resolution for the creation of an animal control board to hold hearings provided for in Code Section 4-8-24. If such an animal control board is created, such board may hear and determine matters provided for in Code Section 4-8-24. An animal control board may be created jointly by two or more local governments under the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section.

(e) In lieu of conducting the hearings required by Code Section 4-8-24 or creating an animal control board for such purpose as provided in subsection (d) of this Code section, the governing authority of each local government is authorized to designate the local board of health within the jurisdiction of such local government to conduct such hearings. Any board so designated is authorized and shall have jurisdiction to conduct such hearings and determine matters provided for in Code Section 4-8-24.

Laws 1988, p. 824, § 2; Laws 2000, p. 1238, § 1.



It also helps to get an attorney to volunteer their time to help you through all the legal mumbo-jumbo. Get the town or county attorneys involved as well. :wink:
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Postby madremissy » April 30th, 2008, 7:16 pm

Jennifer and Diana, Thank you for your help.
I know that I need to take baby steps at first. I know I need to slow my roll way down. I just got excited when I saw that at least it was being brought up.
I agree with everything both of you have said. I don't want to run the operation just would like to help in getting people interested in something. Maybe I should think about it because "the grass isn't always greener" What if they do it and go crazy about it. UGH :sad2: :sad2: Just need to get the Pros/Cons about the whole situation. No I don't want to just stand for the bulls but for all animals.
I was going to go talk to our Sherrif, which coinsodently is now running for another term. We know him and he speaks to us and knows our name but we are not like best friends.
I want to find this Don Bailey and talk to him and get his views on what he wants done. I have looked up information but he is not listed. I will talk to Jimmy (the Sherrif-elect) and see if he knows how.
I do believe that we share ambulance service with another county. I do know a lawyer that I can speak with.
No I don't want to rush into anything but I think if they need to quit ignoring something that is going to be a big problem one day.
It is mean, but alot of these country folks feel like they can deal with it themselves. Shooting, poisoning, bagging them up and throwing them in the river.
Just today I was at the doctor, who is in the county below us. A girl came in with a dog bite on her thumb. When I was leaving the Uspon county Police was there to take the report. She didn't act like she was upset when she came in but the doctor made the call. They have to report stuff like that.
I just looked to make sure but we don't even have a vet in this county. They are trying to bring the business down to our main city in the county but it is but slow.
I appreciate yalls input and it makes me think about things. See that is what I needed. Thank you
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Postby Marinepits » April 30th, 2008, 7:19 pm

You're welcome! Best of luck and let us know how it goes. :)
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