Oglethorpe County Sheriff David Gabriel applied for a temporary animal impoundment facility license with the Department of Agriculture on Aug. 19 in the wake of rising community concerns about abandoned animals.
“We ended up having animals we couldn’t take anywhere,” Gabriel said.
The temporary facility, located next to the jail, will consist of a concrete slab, two runs, five kennels with drainage and a cover. Upon completion, which Gabriel said should take three months, and inspection, the Sheriff’s Office will be granted full license to operate the facility.
In 2019, Oglethorpe County partnered with the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter (MOAS) for services including, “accepting and caring for abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs from Madison and Oglethorpe residents,” according to the contract.
However, MOAS doesn’t serve as an impoundment facility for either Oglethorpe or Madison counties.
Section 4-93 of the Oglethorpe Code of Ordinances requires an animal to be impounded for 72 hours while, “reasonable efforts will be made to identify and notify the owner.” Only after the 72-hour period can the animal legally be placed for adoption.
Lexington resident Faith Campbell has closely followed the impoundment policy and the county’s relationship with MOAS.
“When the Sheriff proceeded to apply for the Department of Agriculture shelter license to hold 20 animals, I was thrilled,” Campbell said. “It was a remarkable step forward in our county to help our officers, to help the public.”
Campbell said she was concerned about an agenda item on Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting titled “Amending the Code of Oglethorpe County, Georgia to Clarify That Animals May Be Impounded At The Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.”
The proposed revision to the ordinance contained language that made MOAS an impoundment facility for Oglethorpe County.
“Any potentially abandoned dog … shall be impounded at the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter,” according to the document.
MOAS was reportedly not consulted and unaware of the proposed change to the county ordinance. Campbell and two members of the MOAS board were in attendance.
“While the Board applauds the BOC’s efforts towards improving the significant animal control and welfare issues that Oglethorpe County is facing,” the shelter wrote in a press release, “the Board has repeatedly made it clear to the BOC that MOAS cannot impound animals directly from county code enforcement personnel (serve as an impound facility) and that it is not legally obligated to do so. MOAS does not have the legal authority nor space or resources to act in this capacity.”
At the Board of Commissioners meeting, county attorney Chip Ferguson encouraged the commissioners to withdraw the item from the agenda, which they agreed to do by a 5-0 vote.
Ferguson said the commissioners and MOAS will meet to discuss the ordinance.
“It’s gotten to a point where we need a solution,” Gabriel said. “We’re going to get the solution.”