Residents speak out about dog issue in Haleyville

HALEYVILLE - After Council Member Ray Boshell and Mayor Ken Sunseri spoke about the problem of loose dogs and the city's plan to help at the April 21, Haleyville City Council meeting, several residents expressed what they thought the city should do, including requiring that pets be licensed with the city, spayed/neutered and microchipped.
Matt Hyde was the first audience member to speak, asking if there has been a discussion about leash laws.
Sunseri told him there is a leash law, but the problem is enforcing it. The police department is kept busy every day on issues other than animal control, he pointed out.
"Most animals we run into do not have collars," Sunseri noted. "They do not have the rabies tag. That can be an expensive proposition to start requiring everyone to register their animals in the city. It'll take additional personnel, and, if we can't enforce it, then it's just written on paper."
Allen Blake said his wife and neighbor take animals they've rescued to the Heart of Alabama: Save, Rescue Adopt (H.A.S.R.A) organization of Florence, which finds them forever homes up north.
"The problem is there's only two or three people in this city that do that," he said. "We lived in San Diego before we came out here.  San Diego had a pretty strict licensing law."
Blake said pets need to be licensed with the city and microchipped with the owner's name and contact information so the owner of loose dogs can be traced and punished.
"I've only been in Haleyville for about six years, but the thing I see is (. . .) if your dogs are out running around, and they pick these dogs up, the owner should be charged for that having to be picked up and whatever they have to do.
"If the dog is out running around and he's not neutered or spayed, that dog can be taken down to the vet," he continued. "Then charge that citizen for that procedure.  If they don't want the dog, give the dog up for adoption and let us transport it down to Florence."
He later added, "If (owners) don't get them spayed or neutered, fine them." He urged the city to make it so "it's cheaper to get the dog neutered or spayed than it is to pay a fine every week," with the fine increasing on a set schedule.
He also said people should not be able to give away pets outside of Walmart or other businesses.
He spoke again of the stray dogs he and his wife have rescued, adding, "We've tried to get people to come  take care of these dogs, and they said, 'Well, if we pick them up, we're going to euthanize them.' I don't want to see that happen either."
Sunseri said that if the city picks up a loose dog, it is required to transport it to a shelter in Winfield that will euthanize it if it is not claimed within seven days.
He asked Blake to leave his name and phone number after the meeting so they could have further discussions about what needs to go in a future ordinance.
Blake agreed, then told the mayor and council to hold a fundraiser or take donations at festivals to purchase whatever is needed to get dogs off the streets, saying, "People will do what they got to do."
Linda Corasaniti, who said she's lived here nearly three years and came from the Atlanta area, was the next resident to speak.
"Forsyth County over there, we started t the same way this county is right now," she said. "It took people (. . .) to get together, and we started out doing yard sales, and now, 35 years later, it is to the point where if you want to participate, you almost have to pay to be a part of that because people want to be a part of the Humane Society. (. . .) There are so many things that could be done in this community that aren't being done."
She said pet owners should not let their dogs out to run loose but should put up a fence like she did when she moved here. As it is, she said, she has to worry about her dogs jumping her fence "to go after the dogs in my neighborhood."
She said she adopted a loose dog that is heartworm positive and she's "footing the bill" for his treatment. "It's a very big bill, and it's so frustrating because you call the police department and you get very little action from them, and I know they're very busy and they've got a lot of things to do, but we've had four deaths in the state of Alabama from dog bites."
She also said a pack of dogs once chased her down the road from ARC to Wal-Mart, saying they wanted to get at the dogs that were in her vehicle with her.
"People don't want you to hit their wallet You go to San Diego--I was born there--you go to these big cities, you're going to pay if your dog is picked up. And it better have a chip. It better have a dog tag on it. (. . .) If there's a problem, you're going to pay for  it (or) you don't get your dog back."
"Level a fine on that person, until that (dog) is re-owned or re-boarded," Blake put in.
"And make him responsible for the vet bill that that dog incurs," Corasaniti picked it up. "You have to be so tough, and it works. (. . .) Go to Forsyth County, Ga., and they will tell you." She added that county now has a Barking Boogie Ball that people want to pay $150 to attend. "That's how far we've come over there. We can do the same thing here if people will just band together and be proactive."
She said while she chose to live her, she might not have if she knew "the dangerous situation that exists."
She went on to say that as an RN she has seen "too many people bitten by dogs," including one child who died. "I don't want that to happen here. Please do something. I am begging you."
She then repeatedly asked the city to make animal control a priority.
Hyde asked how microchips work in pets and, once that was explained, asked if the city could require pets to have them.
"I'll be honest with you," said Boshell. "That's something we could look at, but you got to think about that. That's going to some extremes that right now--I think we need to get the infrastructure in place. We've got some ordinances there, but we need to tighten things up. Everything that's been said--that's what we were talking about earlier is we are looking at this, and you know, you mentioned an animal control officer, right now, we don't have one, and that's why we're looking to get somebody trained for that. That's what we just discussed."
He added, "Part of the thing that we're looking at is trying to get it so the local vets, once or twice a year, will do a low-price day to do (spaying and neutering.)"
Returning to microchips, Hyde said he thought they would be more difficult to remove than a collar and learned removing them required surgery.
He said his son witnessed the family cat being killed, presumably by a dog, from a window.
Sandy Wright spoke next, saying, “I do a lot of the rescue here in Haleyville. (. . .) I have rescued 45 dogs just from here since Jan. 1.”
She said most of her rescues go to northern states “because they have better animal laws,” adding, “I understand it’s a bigger city (and) more money comes in, but they (. ..) require spay and neuter. (. . .) They require their chips (and) the rabies (vaccine).”
Alabama state law requires dogs, cats and ferrets to be vaccinated for rabies.
When there were no further comments from the public, the council voted unanimously to adjourn.