County commission hears dog concerns
Published 10:24 pm Monday, January 24, 2011
Chilton County’s stray dog concerns and issues were brought up twice at the Chilton Commission meeting Monday.
Candace Barnett of Jemison stood before the commission and said she has been having problems with stray dogs, which she claimed had eaten her livestock.
The commission told Barnett they would come up with a solution to her issues.
Following Barnett, another county resident, Bill Ingles, addressed the commissioners with his concerns about unsupervised dogs in the county.
“County Road 23 has a lot of stray, vicious dogs, and it’s becoming a big problem in the county, and they are threatening the safety of people including small children,” said Ingles.
Ingles told the commissioners there are two pit bulls weighing approximately 45 pounds apiece belonging to a neighbor, which keep coming on his property and posing a threat to his family.
“I told them to get the dogs off my property because if they harm me or anything on my property, I was going to kill them without hesitation,” he said. “The owner did all he could and could barely stop the pit bulls as they charged toward me.”
On Dec. 29, 2010, Ingles filed a complaint about the dogs and spoke with the sheriff.
“This evolved because we do not have a law to make dog owners control their dogs,” said Ingles. “Everyone should be held responsible for their dogs legally and criminally.”
He asked the commissioners to consider a leash law or a law that can control the dogs in this county and protect the citizens.
“We have a problem here in Chilton County that needs to be addressed for the safety of residents, livestock and children,” said Ingles.
The commissioners responded to Ingles by saying they understand there is a problem and they will take action regarding the stray dog issues.
In other business, bids were received for the replacement of the bridge on County Road 486. The commission approved the lowest bid of $129,675 made by Alabama Bridge.
Two bids were received for both phases of the Minooka septic system project, which they will approve at the next meeting.