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Murphy – Cherokee County commissioners started off the new year facing an issue that they struggled with last year – how to control vicious dogs.
At the board of commissioners meeting on Jan. 11, residents spoke about a neighbor with dozens of unrestrained dogs making life miserable. However, unlike 2023, when the board was unable to come to terms over creating a local dog ordinance, this time the board had an answer.
The board appointed Sheriff Dustin Smith to be the county’s animal control officer. For his part, it is a new role that he doesn’t seem to relish.
The appointment gives his cash-strapped, overworked force more duties with no additional resources, other than the title and authority that comes with it.
Animal control is an issue for the whole county, but should fall under the health department, Smith said.
The new title gives Smith the authority to decide and declare when a dog is vicious and remove it from the owner. But the sheriff doesn’t have a facility to take vicious dogs to – the Valley River Humane Society is already overcrowded, and Smith doesn’t have funding in his budget to pay other counties to take Cherokee County’s vicious dogs while awaiting final disposition.
His deputies will also need to receive additional training and certification at about $500 per course – again, without additional funding.
The sheriff’s office is one of the most underpaid in western North Carolina and north Georgia, Smith said. The only deputy who had animal control certification left for another agency.
Smith is hoping to create a non-sworn, part-time position to handle the extra workload and to keep his sworn deputies from having to take on the work, which includes following up on cases and maintaining paperwork. He also needs extra funding to pay other counties to house seized dogs.
If an incident involves a dog bite, he is counting on the health department to follow though with the quarantine process necessary to determine whether a dog has rabies.
Commissioner Cal Stiles said the county pays the Valley River Humane Society a quarter million dollars a year to house stray animals. He has a problem paying that and also paying other counties to house Cherokee County’s vicious dogs.
Smith said in his new role as animal control officer, he will enforce state laws – but isn’t going to start picking up stray animals.