County spokesman Robert Quigley said the county has taken possession of the dead dog and is “actively investigating” an abuse case.
Quigley said animal control officers first responded to a call for abandoned dogs on Cooper Landing Drive on April 15. At the time, they left a notice after they could not find the homeowners or see or hear any dogs on the scene.
Quigley said animal control officers are prohibited from entering a house without a search warrant.
On April 20, animal control returned on another call that dogs may have been abandoned but didn’t see or hear any dogs or find anybody at home, instead leaving another notice, Quigley said.
Animal control returned again on Tuesday and saw two dogs in the home. They called the home’s owner and left a voicemail.
“At that time, the dogs were not in distress,” Quigley said.
On Wednesday, animal control returned to the home and saw that the dogs were no longer there.
It turns out they had been taken by animal rescuers who found out about the dogs on Facebook from a neighbor. Noelle Galper said she and a friend were able to let the surviving animals out by simply opening the unlocked back door of the duplex.
Galper said the animals appeared to be abandoned for between a month and six weeks. She said she heard from neighbors that the home’s tenant may have come back to feed them periodically at first, but the animals did not appear to be fed for a couple of weeks.
When the rescuers opened the back door, they could see a dead Dalmatian lying near the front door, Galper said.
“Every inch of it had fecal matter,” she said. “There was blood. They were injured.”
The two surviving dogs, one a chocolate Lab and the other that appears to be a mix of a labrador retriever and a hound, are now with a rescue group. The group’s owner, who asked that she not be identified out of concern the county will confiscate the dogs for a court case, said they are recovering but appeared dehydrated and malnourished.
Galper said she was disturbed that the county didn’t act sooner.
“I’ve rescued many animals in the past and said ‘We’ve got to do something,’” she said.
Quigley said that had officers been able to see the dead dog, that likely would have been enough evidence to get a warrant. But because they couldn’t see the animal, they did all they could do.
“This is a sad situation, but there has to be a balance between private property and the county following the law, as well as animal well-being,” he said.
Follow us on Twitter!
Then come the idiots at COBB Animal Out of Control
I suggest you get over it. I wont. These people are worthless guvment weenies.
These officers have a job to uphold, and in this economy who can afford to lose a job with no promise of when the next opportunity will come along? Animal control officers report to a higher power, and they have guidelines they must follow in order to keep their job.
If there is no warrant, the officer cannot enter the house. It's as simple as that. It's easy to be the outsider saying you would have been the hero, and questioning why the officers didn't open the door. But in reality, those officers are people, and they have responsibilities and families and cannot be FIRED, or realistically even killed, for a tip given by a neighbor.
What happened to these dogs is horrible! There is no question about that. But it just seems that all of this hate and blame is being thrown at the officers, yet not at the actual owners who abandoned the dogs? I believe they are the true culprits.
Sad. But we are all learning that we can trust Cobb law enforcement to be as intelligent and reasonable as we can trust the TSA.
The police and prosecutorial powers are running untethered in stupid land. Trust them only after they prove they can be trusted.
Animal Control officers did not try that while they were out there for one simple reason: without a warrant, if there were a homeowner present the officer could have been, legally, shot and killed for breaking and entering. Just as those "proactive" citizens could have been. An unlocked door plays no part in the matter. If your door were unlocked, would we be allowed to peruse your home at our own will?
Good day, Sir.
Judge Cox decided in our favor.
Thank you Cobb County Animal Control and thank you Judge Cox.
Abandonment (of an animal) means the act of any person who: (1) Abandons an animal by leaving an animal unattended for a period of time in excess of 24 hours without food, water, adequate ventilation or shelter on public or private property, including but not limited to the property of the owner/custodian;
When they left notification on the door on April 15 the owner had 24 hours to contact AC. When they did not respond in that time a warrant should have been obtained and the dogs confiscated.
The officers should be written up and or fired.
We need to take better care of animals. Having said that we cant even seem to get parents to take care of their kids so there is little if any hope for the pets.
What a disgrace and a sin. God watches how we treat the least of those amoung us. Guess what? Cobb Animal Control/Cobb Country Flunked Again. No surprise.
duty 24-7 and you can say one good thing about it:
It's the most efficient branch of county government.
And we don't want to break the law if it means that we might protect an innocent doggie.
God. This is the mindless thought process of a government worker. Doing what is needed to protect an animal can't be done because there is a law against....and sadly a cop and prosecutor who will try to put the government worker in jail if they do take action. It is the mindset that allows the results of government worker involvement to be so commonly useless that you have to say "why the heck do we have government workers?"
How much overtime do you think the county might save if these guys weren't sitting in quiet suburban neighborhoods (where we take care of our animals) early on a Sunday, wasting their gas? I bet lots. Get on this Timmy...I say, more money for the animals, less Sunday hours for county employees.
If it's not outlined for them,.. they are totally lost!
This makes me sick!
Government employees are no different than the general public. You have great ones, good ones, and poor ones. Those that use broad strokes to explain a group of people don't seem to have enough sense to differentiate. Lumping all government employees together in a derogatory manner is just as wrong as lumping all people who comment on here as smart.