This happened this morning. When I saw that the dog escaped, I immediately picked up the phone and called to complain about the lack of proper care in this matter. I was told that they don’t like to waste their time chasing a dog that gets loose…Ummm, isn’t one of the main functions of their services to CHASE STRAY DOGS THAT ARE LOOSE!?:!?!?
I wrote this letter to the head of Fulton County Animal Services, and copied several others.
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To Whom It May Concern,
This morning 2 of the wild dogs that have been terrorizing our neighborhood were captured in the trap at the side of my home . We immediately called for them to be collected and made it clear that there were 2 dogs in one trap.
Instead of sending 2 officers out, which seems like common sense to even me who is completely untrained in how to trap an animal, one officer appeared. She did not alert us that she was there. If she had I would have insisted that she wait until another officer came to assist her since last time we trapped a dog your employees let it out while trying to move it to your van. I realized that she was here when I looked out my front window to see the dog that WE did the work of trapping, waltzing slowly down the road to enjoy it’s freedom.
When I ran out the door to speak to the officer and asked her to go after the dog which could clearly be followed in her van, her only response was to roll her eyes and turn her back on me. She made no move to take any action.
This is completely unacceptable. The only reason that these dogs were captured last night is because we, as a neighborhood, put raw venison in the trap, instead of the cat food that is clearly insufficient. I’m not sure what training your employees receive for collecting the animals, bit it also appears to be insufficient.Here is what I expect.
1. I expect to hear from someone in authority, who is capable of making a plan that is actually effective. Please respond either by phone or in person to this email.
BLOG POST WITH VIDEO
I am a mother of 4 children. We homeschool, so these dogs and their aggression are a constant threat to us and inhibit my children’s ability to play freely and safely. They have been chased up own driveway in terror by the wild dogs in the last 2 months. There are over 100 children in this neighborhood, not just mine. I assure you that if ONE child sustains even the slightest scratch from one of these dogs, you will be facing a lawsuit.
TALITHA C. SEIBEL
This morning my nine year old daughter went out to feed our
chickens to find half of them mutilated inside their coop. A large
hole in the side of the coop clearly shows this was a dog or multiple
dogs that killed our chickens. Obviously this was very devastating for
our daughter. We have had issues with a wild pack of dogs for over six
months now in Howell Station. Animal Control and Fulton county has
shown little proactive effort to address this issue and the root of
the problem. The only action we have seen is reactionary at best to
this point. I have four children, the youngest being three. I cannot
even allow them to freely play in our yard in fear that something
tragic would happen to them. What terrible tragedy is it going to take
to make solving this issue a stronger priority for the county? Clearly
there is an issue with individuals simply dropping animals off at or
near the shelter and these animals banning together. Our own dog was
found on the street. We adopted her and is now a great family pet,
never the less still a product of this issue. Something further must
be done to not only capture these dogs, but change procedures at the
shelter to minimize these anonymous drop offs. In the mean time,
several neighbors have hinted at taking matters into their own hands
to find and terminate these dogs themselves. I hope this encourages a
stronger sense of urgency in this matter.Regards,
Travis Seibel
