Sheriff wants to amend
animal control ordinance
Murphy – Stray animals continue to plague Cherokee County, to the point where law enforcement officials believe there is a need for a dedicated full-time animal control officer.
While the Caney Creek solid waste convenience center in the 300 block of Old Murphy Road has remained a hotspot for dumping unwanted pets over the years, officials say stray animals are found in several areas where people also dump trash.
“There’s no one particular place where everyone in the county goes to dump their animals,” Sheriff Derrick Palmer told the Cherokee Scout. “If we start having an issue in a spot and do a lot of patrols in that area, they may move from that area to somewhere else.”
To understand the need for full-time animal control personnel, the sheriff’s office tracked the number of animal-related calls it has received since the beginning of this year. As of July 21, deputies had received 341 calls related to animal control issues. However, officials could only file a report
for 31 of those calls because most of the complaints were not covered by an enforceable local ordinance or state statute.
The top five animal-related calls involve:
1) stray or loose animals;
2) aggressive dogs;
3) nuisance animals;
4) cruelty to animals;
5) abandoned animals.
“A lot of people are calling about stray or loose animals, and it’s not something that actually requires a report to be filed,” Deputy Patrol Officer Rebekah Snyder said. “It’s more of a civil matter than it is criminal.”
Many citizens believe police are responsible for catching stray animals, but that’s not the case. Meanwhile, the Valley River Humane Society in Marble doesn’t have the manpower to catch animals. As a result, the effort is left mostly to concerned residents.
So far this year, the humane society has accepted more than 275 stray dogs that were picked up in Cherokee County. However, the organization has accepted more than 415 stray dogs this year, which includes animals found in Clay and Graham counties. Humane society officials say only 98 dogs were returned to the family that owned them at the time they were found.
Meanwhile, the animal shelter has accepted more than 436 stray cats this year, of which 279 were found in Cherokee County. Only six cats have been returned to the family that owned them at the time they were found.
“We’re taking in more than 30 dogs almost every week right now,” said Kirsty Waller, manager of the humane society. “We had one day where we took in 32 cats in a day.”
Since officials rarely find the person who abandoned their pet, they can only speculate why someone would do so. Financial difficulty may be the main reason why someone would abandon an animal.
However, officials believe some animals are abandoned when their owner moves to a location that does not allow pets in the home they plan to rent. Unexpected litters may also be a reason why some people dump newborn puppies or kittens.
Officials say trash dump sites seem to be a popular location for stray animals for two reasons:
1) The owner who abandoned the pet knows someone will find them.
2) The animals realize they can find food in those locations, so they frequently return – sometimes with fellow strays.
However, not all animals found at trash sites were dumped by their owner. Officials say loose pets will sometimes migrate to dump sites looking for food. As a result, some pets end up at the shelter, where they are later adopted by other people because the owner fails to claim them in a timely manner.
“I don’t know if people realize that we can’t just keep taking in dogs and not moving them out,” Waller said.
The humane society only keeps pets for 72 hours before putting them up for adoption or taking them to another shelter.
“If you lose your dog or it doesn’t come home as you expect it would, don’t wait three days. Contact us. Our goal is to return every animal to the home it knows, but when that’s not possible our next goal is to find it a forever home,” she added.
Even though it’s only been half a year since law enforcement officials started collecting data related to animal control calls, the sheriff is already leaning toward dedicating an officer to the duty full time. In the meantime, Palmer wants county commissioners to consider repealing or changing the language regarding excessive barking in the animal control ordinance.
“You can’t control when a dog is going to bark,” he said, adding that citations issued under the nuisance clause of the ordinance have never held up in court. “The defense attorney will always ask, ‘What’s unusual about a dog howling at the moon? What’s unusual about a dog barking when a coyote runs through the backyard? Or barking at rabbits hopping in the middle of the night?’
“You can’t articulate and argue in favor of the ordinance when that happens.”
Palmer also wants lawmakers to consider implementing an exotic animal registry in case of a natural disaster that causes animals to escape.
“I’m not trying to restrict anyone from having a lion or tiger if they want to, but it would be nice if we had some type of free registration of the animals to let someone know the type and amount of animals that are being held in a basement at a specific address if something happens to the owner,” Palmer said.
He added that a registry could also provide veterinary information that could warn first responders about animal health or behavioral issues.
“If fire, EMS, or police get a medical call, they’ll know they may not want to breach that door because there’s a couple tigers behind it,” he said.