In 2012, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Responsible Dog Owner Act, which revamped existing legislation pertaining to dangerous dogs. A few bills dealing with animals were discussed during this year’s legislative session but did not get far. I asked Claudine Wilkins, an animal law expert, and Cindy Wiemann, an animal control officer and secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Animal Control Association (GACA), about new developments in animal rights and the law.
Q: How is the Responsible Dog Owner Act (RDOA) working?
Wilkins: Now we have a great opportunity to utilize the state's RDOA when dealing with reckless dog owners. It can be used in many dangerous-dog situations. With any new state law, it takes time to get every county to amend their local ordinance to reflect the minimum state law requirements set by the RDOA. Counties and cities should adopt the state law, but they have the opportunity to add more stringent requirements, too. Some counties have already made the changes, and some have not yet gotten around to it.
Q: Any idea why some counties have not made the change yet?
Wilkins: Amending ordinances takes time, and I think local animal control officers are so immersed in their ordinance enforcement that they're not used to doing state law enforcement. Really, the police and animal control need more training on this particular law, and there is free training out there. Depending on each case, I see RDOA being used when we see reckless owners continually ignore warnings about their dogs, repeat offenders, or in more cases of severe maulings.
Q: You both opposed HB 409 this year, which would affect anti-tethering laws. Why?
Wiemann: One of GACA's objections to this bill was it removed local authority, the local ability to enact ordinances to serve communities. What works in downtown Atlanta isn't appropriate in rural farmland, and vice versa. Many animal control officers say it would be unenforceable, as anyone tethering their dog could claim it was engaged in the special activity proposed in the bill. The burden will be placed squarely on the shoulders of animal control and law enforcement to prove otherwise.
Wilkins: Tethering can produce a bad situation in some cases. For one, it's an attractive nuisance for children. A 3-year-old sees a puppy at the end of a leash; they don't know that dog can be dangerous. Even a very sweet dog can also wrap its chain around the 3-year-old's neck. Hunters like to use tethering to hold their hunting dogs. In rural counties, some tether their dogs, but it's a very different scene in Atlanta or in suburbs where you have neighborhoods abundant with children and people are tethering their dogs. In Georgia, 11 counties and 6 cities already prohibit tethering due to public safety issues. Some were created because of dog attacks and fatalities in their community.
Q: If a dog is prone to aggressive behavior, couldn’t tethering be seen as a good thing, a protective thing?
Wilkins: No. It typically makes a dog more aggressive, because it is stuck on one place and in some cases, for a very long time. A dog on a chain is not getting exercise or socialization, and it poses threats to children who wander into the dog's reach. The RDOA was initiated as the result of a little girl, Cheyenne Peppers, in south Georgia who was mauled to death. Two dogs broke from their chain and mauled her, almost decapitated her.
Where does Georgia stand nationally regarding animal law?
Wilkins: In general, we're behind, very behind, in so many ways. Our animal cruelty statute really doesn't account for long-term intentional torture. The way it's written, you basically have to maim, dismember, disfigure or kill an animal (for the act) to be considered aggravated cruelty. It lacks consideration for the deprave-minded person committing the act and is only triggered based on the injury received by the animal. The law is flawed in that you can knowingly and maliciously torture an animal for a long time, but if you do not maim, disfigure or kill it, you can't be charged with aggravated cruelty. There is a lot to be done in Georgia.
Claudine Wilkins, an attorney and former prosecutor, founded the animal law section at the State Bar of Georgia. Cindy Wiemann has been an animal control officer in Madison for 14 years. She is secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Animal Control Association.
