County board to hold public hearing for public input on animal control

The Fayette County Board at its October meeting will set the date for a public hearing at which county residents can express their feelings about animal control.
The board agreed to hold a public hearing at the request of Merrell Collins, the board member who serves as chairman of the board’s animal control subcommittee.
Collins made that request after telling other board members about his research into what other counties are doing about animal control.
He said that he has learned that he believed that there was a state mandate requiring counties to charge a registration fee for dogs. “It is not – it is an option,” Collins said.
“It appears that most counties are charging (a fee) to offset the cost of animal control,” he said.
While Fayette County’s budget for animal control is $29,000, he said, the budget in Effingham County is $132,000, with those funds being used solely for salaries, because “everything (such as food) is donated.
“I keep looking, I keep talking,” he said about his continuing research.
“The biggest thing is a kennel – everybody wants a no-kill shelter. Every no-kill shelter is full,” Collins said, adding that facilities such as Second Chance Animal Rescue are also full.
Collins said he has knowledge of at least a couple of breeders in the county that have 75-140 dogs on their properties, explaining that he knows that because of Effingham County authorities being called over here to deal with that.
Animal control “is a big deal,” he said. “We’ve got a really serious problem.
“I want to hold a public hearing and see what their (the public’s) ideas are,” Collins said.