Officers Fight For Those With Four Feet
www.herald-sun.com
BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES
January 23, 2005, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA -- Officer A.I. Peterson-Daye says her worst on-the-job injury as an animal cruelty investigator happened when something flew into her ear. Peterson-Daye was responding to a report of a woman who lived with 13 or 14 dogs in her home on Midland Terrace. She could smell the urine and feces when she approached the door, Peterson-Daye said.
She knocked. She noticed flies trying to get into the house. Something -- perhaps one of the pests -- flew into her ear, she said. The woman refused to let her in, "because she said it was that bad," said Peterson-Daye, a 47-year-old who has been in law enforcement for 18 years.
When Peterson-Daye went back to her truck, she said she noticed her equilibrium was off. She went straight to the doctor. Peterson-Daye's eardrum was red, but the culprit was gone, the doctor told her. She soon recovered fully, but the case remains one of the worst she's seen while working for Durham County Animal Control.
The case was never resolved, because the woman left the county before Peterson-Daye could complete her investigation, she said.
Animal cruelty is defined as action or inaction that results in unjustifiable pain, suffering or death of an animal. It also includes attempted acts of teasing, molesting, baiting or trapping of animals unlawfully, according to the Durham County Animal Control Ordinance.
Peterson-Daye is one of two Durham animal control officers assigned specially to enforce animal cruelty laws, although all animal control officers encounter cruelty.
Last fiscal year, Animal Control issued 406 citations totaling $14,700 in fines.
The most common abuses in Durham included animals not having sufficient water, sufficient tethering or proper nutrition or health care, Peterson-Daye said. "[The public] needs to understand that animals are like children. They are like family members," she said. They need shots to protect them from disease. They need baths to keep them clean. And they need an adequate place to stay, she said.
There is also the abuse officers don't see, but know exists because of the thick scars that show through pit bulls' thin coats. "Dog fighting is a huge problem," said Cindy Bailey, administrator for Durham County Animal Control. "Finding the dog fight is an even bigger problem." Animal control officials see pit bulls with scars on their faces, necks and front legs on a daily basis, Bailey said. But to prove the cause, they have to just about walk up on a fight, she said.
Not all instances of animals being mistreated are actually cases of abuse, animal control officials say. Sometimes when animal owners don't know the implications of their actions, education can go a long way, they say. "Cruelty investigation is simply not just going on a property and seeing a dog without a shelter," Bailey said.
It is being able to know the difference between ignorance and intentional and willful neglect, Bailey said. It is working with people to educate them and help them find a system that keeps the pet from knocking over a water bowl or helping the owner find money to get a pet spayed or neutered.
In cold weather, a proper shelter with three sides and a floor is crucial for dogs, Bailey says. The shelter will block the wind, which otherwise robs dogs of body heat.
Also, people need to watch the water bowls when it's very cold. Dogs don't like icy water, and they will often become dehydrated before they drink it, she says.
When Peterson-Day finds a violation, she first tries to educate the owner on the law. She explains the violation, asks them if they are able to fix the situation and gives them a warning. Then she tells the owner the warning can turn into a fine if the problem isn't fixed within 72 hours, sometimes less or more depending on the violation.
"We are not out there to take people's animals, we are out there to educate them," she says.
For each violation, the person will be fined $50. After 5 days those fines double. In addition, animal control officers can seize or impound an animal for violations. In May 2004, initial fines increased from $25 to $50 and from $50 to $100 for subsequent violations. The fines were increased to deter some of the repeat offenders, Bailey said.
From July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004 Durham County Animal Control and the Durham County Animal Shelter collected $13,100 of the total $14,700 in fines. The shelter collects the majority of the fines because fees must be paid before an animal is reclaimed, Bailey says. The fines and collections have been steady in the past few years, Bailey says.
In a period of four hours on a late December morning, Peterson-Daye went from neighborhood to neighborhood in a white Animal Control truck and checked on 23 dogs. She checked on the vaccinations for 10 pit bulls on Kate Street and tethering for five Akitas off of Angier Avenue. Four of the Akitas, a breed native to Japan with tall bodies and a bear-like head, were kept outside. One was tied to a tree, one was tied to the house and two were in homemade shelters made of canvas.
Apparently, not much had changed since Peterson-Daye had issued a warning about the shelters. "You can't be slow in this cold," she told the owner, Bill Pearson. Pearson said he was the sole source of income for his house. He also said he was hesitant to make major changes until he bought the property, because his last landlord kicked him out after he created a proper place to keep the dogs.
Peterson-Daye also visited a paint and body shop that had three Rottweilers chained among junk cars, picked up a stray yellow Lab puppy on the side of Ashe Street and drove by Haskell's Properties Inc. to check on a dog tied to a blue pickup in the back. "I don't see no food, water or shelter," Peterson-Daye said.
She issued a notice saying that if corrections weren't made within 24 hours, the dog would be taken to the shelter. The next day the dog behind Haskell's was gone, she said.
Durham animal shelter manager Jennifer Sherian said the shelter received about 10 animals a month that had suffered some type of cruelty. Most of the cases were animals that Animal Control picked up after people just let them loose on the streets because they didn't want to be held accountable for the abuse, Sherian said.
About once a month officers see animals with collars embedded around their neck. Starvation is another common form of abuse, she says. Then there's
blatant kicking and beating, Sherian says. "We have, luckily, not had a lot of those," she said.
Pets that are abused are sometimes unadoptable because of their disposition, she says. For example, in December 2003, animal control brought in one of two puppies being kept on a screened-in porch. The people keeping the puppy never fed the dogs and one puppy died, she said.
Sherian fostered the other puppy in her home for two months. She named him Kiai, a word she learned from her daughter's Judo classes meant to give the dog strength and resilience, she said. "A little tan thing, maybe a spaniel," she said.
The puppy bonded with her, but became extremely aggressive toward others, she said. "It got so severe, anyone that would come near, he would try to attack," Sherian said. Sherian tried to put the dog in other situations, but it didn't work. Kiai was put to sleep.
Sometimes such cases work out fine, and it's impossible to know if the animal would have been aggressive anyway, she said. "You sure can make assumptions that if this animal was given proper love and care, it mostly likely would not have ended up this way," Sherian said.
To report animal cruelty, call (919) 560-0630 or send an e-mail to
animalcontrol@co.durham.nc.us.
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Durham County Animal Control Requirements
-- Animals should be fed a wholesome quantity of foods in a container suitable for the age and species of the animal every 24 hours.
-- Animals should have constant access to a supply of clean water. If access is not constant, then adequate amounts must be provided at least twice in a 24-hour period.
-- Animals should be provided with adequate shelter from the weather at all times. Examples of inadequate shelter include underneath houses, vehicles and outside steps, decks and stoops. Inadequate shelter also includes inside vehicles, cardboard boxes, temporary animal carriers, metal or plastic barrels and shelters surrounded by waste or debris that may endanger an animal.
-- Owners are required to provide proper medical care to a diseased or injured animal.
-- Animals should not be left outside in inclement weather or in extreme temperatures without adequate shelter.
--All collars used for the purpose of chaining or tethering an animal must be made of nylon or leather.
-- The length a tether must be at least 10 feet long, and the weight and material should be appropriate to the size of the animal. All chains or tethers must be attached to the animal by means of a properly fitting harness or collar of not less than one inch in width.
-- Animals shouldn't be left in a closed vehicle or other enclosure for such duration or at such temperatures that would be potentially harmful to the animal.
-- Unless otherwise permitted by law, giving away or offering any animal as a prize, premium or advertising device for or as an inducement to enter any contest, game or other competition involving skill or chance, or auctioning, raffling or otherwise offering as a prize or premium any animal for fund-raising or charitable purposes is illegal.
