GA: Spalding County to Revise Animal Control Rules, Bans Tethering

Board to update animal control rules
by Ray Lightner Griffin Daily News
1 day 16 hrs ago | 763 views
Spalding County may soon have a more standardized set of animal control rules.

The Spalding County Animal Care & Control Advisory Board will meet at 5 p.m. Monday to revise its “dog living conditions proposal” to include a section on cats. The meeting will be in Room 108 of the Spalding County Courthouse Annex.

The finalized proposal will then be presented to the Spalding County Board of Commissioners for adoption.

Once enacted, the ordinance would replace the current system of animal restraint districts. The animal restraint districts are scattered all over the county and in some instances, according to advisory board members, may include one side of the street but not the other.

The county has a list of the districts on the home page of its website, http://spaldingcounty.com/.

The new proposal would be easier for animal control officers to enforce and would remain complaint-driven, said advisory board Chairman Kelly Palmatier. The proposed change would, Palmatier said, “allow animal control officers to have some discretion to make decisions.”

For example, the board left out specific temperatures, using instead the phrase “rain, snow, ice, excessive temperatures and extreme weather.” The proposal also requires “regular access to food and constant access to fresh water and shelter and veterinary care as necessary.”

The proposal from the previous meeting requires dogs to be “under restraint or control,” not running loose. It prohibits the tethering of dogs and requires fencing and pens for dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs.

The advisory board, at its last meeting, proposed an 18-month waiting period for residents to comply with changes including pens.

“We don’t want to be a hardship on anyone,” Palmatier said. “We want what we propose to be good for animals and the county and not a burden on anyone.”

The advisory board is also planning to approach community groups for education on the proposal.

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