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Shallotte,NC,USA
Biting back: Health services wants change in vicious dog policy
The county's dangerous dog ordinance has received initial approval for a change designed to give it more teeth, health director Don Yousey said. The Brunswick County Health Department board on Monday approved a change to enable the county to take possession and destroy dogs deemed a danger to the community. The change, to be forwarded to county commissioners, is tied to a year-old case involving Supply resident Edward McRae Bryan II of Nags Head Road, who owns two pit bull dogs. "It wasn't being handled properly," Yousey said, noting the dogs were declared dangerous after they attacked and killed a neighbor's dog last year. In July, Bryan was cited again by Brunswick County Animal Services after neighbors complained his pit bulls were unleashed in the neighborhood. Under the change, if an owner doesn't control such dogs, "we will be able to take them," Yousey said. "If they become the property of this county, they will be destroyed." The change will enable the county to do something before someone gets hurt, he said. "We don't want to go through this again," Yousey said, explaining why the department has asked for the change. For now, Bryan has his dogs back after paying close to $500 in fines and boarding costs, animal services director Richard Cooper said. Yousey said Bryan also has agreed to handle them in a way that is consistent with the law. "We're trying to put in a passage so that if the animal gets out or if the person violates the ordinance...we would move forward to seize and destroy it," Cooper said. Brunswick County Commissioners Chairman David Sandifer asked that Yousey be on hand to answer questions when the matter is place on the commissioners' agenda. "I don't want it to become a recommendation and my board not fully understand it," he said. LAURA LEWIS is a staff writer at the Beacon. Reach her at 754-6890 or at llewis@brunswickbeacon.com |
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