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Column
By
Rochelle Beckstine
The Jackson Herald
August 1, 2001
 A closer look at animal control
Several residents have expressed concern in the last few weeks
about the impending animal control ordinance. Rumors have abounded
that rural dogs will now have to be leashed and chickens and
goats will be illegal. None of this is true. I got a copy of
the proposed ordinance from the county commission office and
read over it very carefully. What it proposes is this:
·All cats, dogs, cows, fowl, horses, swine, domesticated
wild animals and domesticated exotic animals must be within the
property limits of the owner or controlled by a leash or at heel
beside a competent person, obedient to commands or within a vehicle.
The animal can go on another's property with expressed permission
of the other person.
·Abandoning any of the above animals for a period of 36
hours or more is illegal. Abandonment is assumed if an animal
is left unattended without food or water on public property or
on private property without the permission of its owner.
·An animal control department is founded with an animal
control officer empowered to enforce the animal control ordinance.
·All dogs and cats must be vaccinated against rabies and
wear a secure collar with proof of the vaccination around the
neck. Animals over four months must be registered with the county.
The registration fee will be set at a later date by the board
of commissioners.
·Owners of animals that are considered dangerous or potentially
dangerous must hold certificates of registration for those animals.
The certificate of registration will cost $100. Animals can be
classified as dangerous or potentially dangerous only after inflicting
"severe injury" on humans or other animals or "aggressively
biting, attacking or endangering the lives of humans or other
animals without provocation." The owner will be notified
of the classification by the animal control officer and will
have the right to request a hearing before the board of commissioners
to dispute the classification. Dangerous animals must be confined.
The owner must post a sign warning of the dangerous animal and
the owner must hold a $100,000 insurance policy to cover personal
or property damages which might be inflicted by the animal.
·Any person who violates the ordinance will be issued
a citation. The first offense will be punishable by a $25 or
more fine or one day in the Jackson County jail or both the confinement
and the fine. Second offenses will be punishable by $50 or more
or two days in jail or both. Court costs could also be imposed.
Subsequent offenses may be punished by the maximum amount allowed
for the violation of county ordinances.
·Abandoned animals can be impounded by the county. If
the owner is known, the animal control officer will notify him
that his animal has been impounded. The owner can pick the dog
up within five days by paying an impoundment fee, which has not
yet been set by the board of commissioners. Unclaimed animals
will be disposed of.
Rochelle Beckstine is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers.
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Jackson County Opinion Index |
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Column
By
Tim Thomas
The Jackson Herald
August 1, 2001
 Save the chickens; eat a whale
THE impending arrival of hunting season squirrel season
begins August 15 this week's frenzied response to Charlie
Broadwell's anti-PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
column reminded me of a recent email from an old friend.
In the email was a link to a story on the PETA website. It seems
the PETAs are encouraging everyone to start eating whale meat.
That's right, whale meat. From whales. You know, the big ugly
mammals that Jane Fonda and Alec Baldwin and PETA have fought
for years to protect from commercial harvest.
Here's their logic. According to PETA, folks in the United States
consume 26 billion animals per year. The number is so high because
most of the animals we consume are relatively small chickens,
pigs, cows, and so on.
The PETA folks say that because whales blue whales in particular
are so large, we'd only have to consume 500,000 of them
a year if we went to a whale-only diet. We'd thus save 25,999,500,000
animals per year. That's pretty impressive.
And they say it tastes like chicken. Call it chicken of the sea.
Not only would eating whales save so many animal lives, it would
solve Jackson County's animal control problem, or at least make
it a less heart-wrenching situation.
With no one in the United States eating chicken, all the area
poutry farmers could open their doors and let the chickens go
free. Then all the stray cats and dogs in the county could belly
up to the buffet line.
No more starving puppies. One more problem solved.
But wait a minute. Even with our burgeoning stray pet problem,
our homeless animals could never consume enough chickens to control
the population. Imagine all those chickens running through our
Gwinnett transplants' yards and pooping on the front porches.
In Nicholson alone, residents' taxes would go through the roof
as the city scrambled to hire four more chicken catchers to enforce
the city chicken ordinance.
And what about all the damage to the Expeditions and Suburbans
on our roads? Do you realize just how badly a running over a
chicken can damage an SUV?
The obvious solution would be to institute a chicken hunting
season. Just to make it sound more sophisticated, we could even
start referring to them as field hens.
Either that, or charge a fee for surrounding counties to send
us all their strays.
I believe the end of turkey (which basically looks and tastes
like a big chicken) season in the spring also marks the end of
all hunting seasons until the little furry-tailed yard rodents
start taking cover a couple of weeks from now. Chicken, er, field
hen season would fill the void nicely. Opening day could be May
1, closing day September 1 (to coincide with opening day for
dove, which tastes like chicken basted in bermuda grass resin).
By the way, I haven't eaten squirrel in a while, but it's a downright
tasty meat. Kind of like chicken, only gamier. Beats possum (which
tastes like chicken that's been in the fridge a week) any day.
Tim Thomas is a reporter for The Jackson Herald. He may be
reached at the sports desk at (706) 367-2348, or via email at
SpeckCh@aol.com.
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