Outdated Animal Ordinances in Effingham, GA

Day after day I see posts on Facebook in groups or pages and such about this dog is tied up, that dog is tied up, this dog riding in the back of a pickup truck just fell out, or just riding around in the back of a truck and fell over. People complaining that it is illegal for both of these things and who to call. The bad part is there is no one to call as it is NOT illegal in Effingham County, GA. How sad that fact really is.

The local Ordinances that were created years ago did not have provisions for this. For over 25 years the animal ordinances have been bare minimum at best. So many people complain on Facebook and beyond about the laws and they need to be changed. But no one knows where nor how to do it. Our County Commissioners are where we ALL must start. That said it is ultimately their decision what gets passed or not, but it is with our persuasion that this happens.

If the County Commissioners don’t know this is important to us, they don’t know it really needs to happen. Kind of like the phrase “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” well we need to bring it to Sight! Our local ordinances say nothing about tethering a dog outside. Tethering means as of right now it is perfectly legal to tie up a dog on any chain length and it is perfectly legal to just leave them out there day after day as long as they have food, water and shelter.  This is not how a dog should spend their life.

Also lacking in the local ordinances is anything on dogs riding in the back of a pickup truck and not properly secured. The American Humane Association states an estimated 100,000 dogs die each year from this. It’s always so scary watching this and your driving behind them and see the dog fly from one side to the other or possibly watch them fall out when going around a corner. It is nothing you ever forget. Dogs should be in a secured crate and that crate secured to the truck so the dog is not harmed while driving.

For most pet owners this is common knowledge and we feel this should be done but County Commissioners have other things to think about and animal laws are NOT one of them. The Effingham County Shelter Director has tried to bring these and other issues to the table for the County Commissioners but it seems to not be going anywhere.  In a news article from EffinghamNow that was also picked up by The Augusta Chronicle, this is what she stated about her efforts:

Shelton plans to continue her efforts to get the county to pass an updated animal control ordinance. She proposes banning the tethering of dogs; banning dogs being carried loose in the bed of pickup trucks; stricter guidelines on breeders; requiring licenses for pets; and limiting the number of companion animals each household can have.

Banning tethering would give law enforcement officers a way to crack down on pit bulls being tied to trees in the woods, she said.

Shelton has worked with the county attorney on the new ordinance and hopes to take it soon to the county manager and commissioners. She urges the public to contact their commissioners about the proposed update, which would be the first in 25 years.

So it is up to us to help let the commissioners know we need stricter laws about this. Chatham County has these laws in place. They even have an additional one that we really need about animals being left in parked cars. Everyone knows once the Summer starts we will begin to see this again over and over. Here is what Chatham County has and as of 2007, yes 2007 that was 13 years ago so why is Effingham so far behind the times? Cause no one has voiced their opinion enough and help make this happen. Here are the Chatham Ordinances.

• Sec 9-5035. Tethering. It shall be prohibited in unincorporated Chatham County or within the limits of the City to retain or confine to property of dogs or cats in a manner achieved by tethering to stationary or non-stationary objects including but not limited to,dog houses, barrels or other stationary objects as such means of confinement within the property. (Code 2007, §9-5035)
• Sec 9-5036. Animal Transported by Vehicles. No animals shall be transported on a public rod in an open vehicle including an open top vehicle or open truck bed unless housed in a secured container designed for that purpose and having a provision for adequate ventilation, food and water. Said container shall have an open grille on one end, and a solid top and bottom and a minimum of 15% total accumulated side areas incorporated into an open grille for air circulation provisions. (Code 2007, §9-5036)
• Sec. 9-5037. Animal Confinement and Left Unattended in Parked Cars. It shall be unlawful to leave an animal unattended in a parked vehicle without proper ventilation to prevent the animal from suffering physical distress from dangerous temperatures, lack of food or lack of water. Savannah-Chatham Animal Control or any other law enforcement shall take such action as is necessary including entry of the vehicle by any means to remove an animal from such jeopardy and may impound said animal and secure medical treatment for said animal as needed at the owner’s expense. Savannah-Chatham Animal Control officers may take possession of any deceased animal found in any parked vehicle for purposes of determining the cause of death in question pursuant to animal neglect or cruelty of this code. (Code 2007, §9-5037)

It is up to the citizens of Effingham County to make this happen and to help stop dog owners from doing these things. Please send an email to all the County Commissioners voicing the need for a change in the laws. Please be courteous and respectful, if you start out a email being hateful, disrespectful and harsh words it will fall on deaf ears. Peaceful emails with facts (like listed above showing what their neighboring county has had in effect since 2007) and some emotions will go a lot further. Here is a list of our local County Commissioners with their email address to make it easier for you to message them how you feel. We can only win with numbers on this so please share this article with others.

• Wesley Corbit wcorbitt@effinghamcounty.org
• Forrest Floyd ffloyd@effinghamcounty.org
• Roger Burdette burdettedistrict2@gmail.com
• Jamie Deloach jamiedeloachdistrict3@gmail.com
• Reggie Loper comm.rsloper.dist4@gmail.com
• Phil Kieffer philkiefferdistrict5@gmail.com

A change in Effingham needs to happen and we at HOPE thank you so much for reading this and wanting to help to be a part of that change.