County to research possibility of animal shelter
By Barry H. Hendrix Contributing Writer

Clarke County Commission Chairman Joe Hunt appointed commissioners Patricia DuBose and Elma Averett Tuesday to form a task force on establishing a county animal shelter. DuBose brought up the subject after she had received recent comments from county residents.

There is a state law requiring counties to have a shelter and an animal control officer.

Alabama Law 3-7A-7 states that "it shall be the duty of each and every county in the state to provide a suitable county pound and impounding officer for the impoundment of dogs and cats found running at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter. Every municipality with a population over 5,000 in which the county pound is not located shall maintain a suitable pound or contribute their pro rata share to the staffing and upkeep of the county pound.

"When dogs and cats are impounded and if the owner thereof is known, such owner shall be given direct notice of the impoundment of said animal or animals belonging to him; or the impounding officer may make said animal or animals available for adoption after a period of not less than seven days."

There had been previous talk by the commissioners concerning a pound, said County Attorney Bruce Wilson, and people have previously approached the commission with ideas. However, "it just never worked out," he said. The attorney said the county might want to establish a lease agreement with another facility besides building its own.

The City of Jackson has an animal pound, located at the south end of the Gainestown Road, and an animal control officer. The City of Thomasville has a small holding kennel for nuisance animals and an animal control officer.

"There are many ways you can do it," establishing a shelter, DuBose said. She wanted an answer that would be "the best thing for the people of Clarke County - and for the animals."

Commissioner Rhondel Rhone was concerned how a county animal control officer could cover such a large county. DuBose said a sheriff's deputy could possibly be designated for that purpose.

"It is a problem," Averett said. "It's an increasing problem. There are some dangerous dogs out there."

Maurice Dyess, a sergeant with the Clarke County Sheriff's Department, said Tuesday there is not a criminal statute that covers the owners of vicious dogs. "Our hands have been tied," he said. "If we had a law we could take care of all this."

"We spend almost $2 million a-year on locking up people," Commissioner Paul Bradford said Tuesday. "I would hate to see us spending a couple of million dollars locking up animals."

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