LETTER: Concerned about Madison County’s stray animal population

As Madison County business owners and residents, we are embarrassed by the poor, outdated animal care and control standards that are compromising child and family safety, animal safety, and animal welfare daily in our community.

It was recently brought to our attention that Madison County’s Animal Control is in danger of being shut down as a result of proposed govermental budget cuts. Animal Control is grossly underfunded and understaffed (many are unaware that there is only one full-time, sworn-in officer for our entire county, encompassing Hull, Colbert, Comer, Danielsville, Ila, etc.).

Eliminating the Madison County Animal Control program would leave even more animals (particularly stray, ferile, diseased, injured, and even healthy, adoptable dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens) openly wandering the intersections and family yards of Madison County. Further, who will address local incidents involving animals? Our police officers are also spread very thin and cannot be expected to pick up the duties already assigned to animal control. Animal control must continue combating these problems if Madison County is to be considered a humane, responsible community, actively addressing our own safety and overpopulation issues.

We find ourselves as unofficial advocates of public safety, regularly needing to stop dangerous “too close” vehicle wrecks involving strays from injuring passengers and dogs in front of our stores. We also see too many pets wandering with and without collars on. We have personally picked up injured and dead dogs in the road.

Even more disturbing is the horrific awareness that felony dog fighting is rampant in residential areas, with little or no consequence to the people engaging in this violent illegal activity. Cats and dogs (both healthy pet quality, and ferile, rabid, sick) wander often into private backyards, attacking livestock and family pets who are properly cared for and are simply playing in their own yards.

Child safety is dangerously compromised each time an unfamiliar animal — whether someone else’s pet, or a wild animal — runs onto public or private property. Because of the unique position we are in to witness these problems routinely, we are writing to appeal to the entire Madison County community to help us create positive changes to keep our animals, adults, and children safe.

We invite Madison County residents to exercise renewed vigilance in keeping pets safely contained on owner property, properly vaccinated, and legally tagged on the collar to show rabies compliance and owner contact information, should the pet accidentally get loose. We also invite judicial and law enforcement personnel to vigorously support pet leash and rabies tag enforcement. Please join us in signing the animal action petition, advocating for greater enforcement power for animal control to implement laws and consequences for those unabiding citizens who continue to put their own animals, our animals, and our children at great risk.

We invite every Madison County resident who cares about animal and child safety to stop by our storefronts during regular business hours to sign the petition in favor of positive change. After all, these laws are already in place ...we are simply urging our community to uphold them, both on the private citizen and public servant levels.

Sincerely,

Samantha Willard, owner of The Dog House, Too Grooming, 19 North Main Street, Ila; and Jennifer Abeles, Faeryland Emporium Gifts & Jewelry, 5300 Commerce Street, Ila