Animal control ordinance tabled

On October 26 at 6 p.m., Barnwell County Council held a special-called meeting for a third reading of the drafted Animal Control Ordinance 2010-08-262 after being a consecutively debated agenda item for months. Here, it was tabled until the Nov. 15 regular meeting.

The ordinance underwent a slew of changes before taking shape for the third reading, some of which do not align with the standards of Best Friends Animal Society– the non-profit organization giving the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation $30,000 to implement TNVR.

Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR/TNR) is a program successfully implemented in over half of the counties in the state aiming to lessen the number of community cats, stabilize their populations, and decrease the burden on local shelters. Community cats are feral animals, and TNR controls their populations without taxpayers funding their care in the shelter.

Best Friends is providing a $30,000 grant to the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation to implement this program in Barnwell County in two installments - $15,000 to get the program started and $15,000 to keep it going.

This grant funding was accepted in June by county officials, and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed on May 27 by a Foundation member and Barnwell County Council Chairman Harold Buckmon detailing the county’s obligation to “amend the ordinances to support the TNR program,” according to the MOA.

Per the grant contract between Best Friends and the county, language in ordinances or ordinances themselves that impede on implementation and sustainability of TNVR must be revised and accepted within three months. Best Friends has given the county an extension to the end of the year to accomplish this due to extenuating circumstances.

The amended ordinance at its core has been collaboratively created by county officials, Sheriff Steve Griffith, Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation members, Best Friends Animal Society representatives and Barnwell County Animal Shelter (BCAS) board members, however, has taken many different forms.

When the proposed amended ordinance was presented to Barnwell County Council at their Sept. 13 meeting for its second reading, it had language to support the TNVR program as required per the MOA and Best Friends guidelines.

The council chambers became a bit heated in confusion and the agenda item was tabled until the Oct. 11 council meeting. The People-Sentinel covered this meeting in the Sept. 21 edition.

At the Oct. 11 meeting, the language in the ordinance had been edited from the Sept. 13 tabled version unbeknownst to the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation or Best Friends. It was then unanimously approved with this edited language.

County officials are meant to make edits and take considerations between the first and second reading of a proposed amended ordinance, and even the second and third readings as well. However, the changes that were approved on Oct. 11 no longer support the initiatives of Best Friends Animal Society and therefore would not support the implementation of the remainder of the $30,000 grant.

Some of the general concerns of Best Friends representatives include little in the ordinance around protecting community cat caregivers from facing criminal liability – a community cat caregiver is not responsible for the actions of an individual cat, as opposed to an owner and their pet.

Specific language around TNVR is needed for law enforcement to exclude community cats from the abandonment and nuisance sections of the ordinance, allowing them to be cared for by TNVR volunteers as agreed.

“It’s important that cat colony caregivers not be considered owners of the cats, because this would falsely indicate that they have some control over them,” states Best Friends’ website.

In the approved second reading, Section 2-15. Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) Program/Community Cats, was extended stating, “The program initially provides a grant as seed money to launch the program. Once the grant is exhausted, or at any point during the term of the program, the TNR Program is subject to review for the purposes of renewal or cancellation.”

With the language of the ordinance allowing TNVR to be subject to review for either renewal or cancellation, the contractual requirements that inherently come with the TNR program such as long-term capability and sustainable programs are directly impacted.

Also, one line of the edited version states, “Healthy ear-tipped cats will be processed through TNR,” which is inherently incorrect as a cat having a tipped ear is indicative of it having been through the TNR process.

It was evident there was division in the views of council members at the Sept. 13 meeting.

The People-Sentinel reached out to Councilman Don Harper after the Sept. 13 meeting where he confirmed his thoughts on the TNVR program – it will not work in Barnwell County.

The People-Sentinel reached out to Councilman Harper to see if the changes made to the ordinance between the readings also changed his opinions on the program causing him to vote in favor at the Oct. 11 meeting.

On Sept. 20 when he first spoke with The People-Sentinel, he was against the program, and at the Oct. 11 meeting, he, alongside all the other members, approved it.

When The People-Sentinel reached out for comment on this shift, Councilman Harper asked the reporter not to contact him again. Elected officials are under no obligation to speak to the press when asked questions regarding public concern, although it does aid the process of transparency.

Many seats were filled at the Oct. 26 special meeting to conduct the third reading of the ordinance which included language that would not allow for approval of the remaining grant funding.

There were four entries for public comment, each discussing a different angle of the animal control topic pertaining to the ordinance. These individuals were asked by the council to elect a representative to speak on their behalf.

Dr. Shannan Miller, veterinarian at Dogwood Animal Hospital in Barnwell, explained 73 cats have been through the program with the first half of the grant money, five training programs were held via Zoom with Best Friends, and they have found three locations to accommodate community cat populations.

“Without this program, feral cat colonies will continue to grow at an alarming rate,” said Dr. Miller, who explained one unspayed female cat can lead to around 20,000 in offspring.

Dr. Miller has worked with the shelter for 15 years and performed over 3,000 spays and neuters for stray and feral cats in the county. She explained it still isn’t enough.

She stated at the meeting, “Euthanasia is the number one reason feral cat populations are growing in Barnwell County,” of trap and kill policies.

Dr. Miller explained TNR stabilizes the cat population to lessen disease with vaccines, lessen their frequency in the county shelter with monitoring, and lessen the number of cats entirely with spaying and neutering. When feral cats are brought into the shelter, they cost the county money in either care or euthanasia. With the TNR program, these cats can be cared for without county funds.

After Dr. Miller spoke and Barnwell County Administrator Tim Bennett read the amendments, Chairman Buckmon requested he read the entire 16-page ordinance.

“You can skip parts, no one would know,” said Chairman Buckmon jokingly.

Chairman Buckmon explained this was standard procedure for the second and third reading of an ordinance. However, this is the first time Barnwell County Council has read an entire ordinance on its second or third reading in months, especially one of this length.

According to Barnwell County Rules of Procedure, council members can request to read the ordinance in its entirety, but it is not something that commonly occurs under lesser debated circumstances and is not required per the Rules of Procedure.

Both Councilman Freddie Houston and Councilman Daniel Alexander attempted to discuss with Chairman Buckmon why he asked for a full reading even though Administrator Bennett had made the edits known at the meeting and council members were provided with a copy to review prior to the meeting.

Chairman Buckmon then made a request to have the ordinance read in full. Administrator Bennett began reading.

Forty-five minutes later a motion was made to approve the ordinance as written.

Councilman Alexander was the first to speak during discussion.

“This council is not living up to the agreement we made six months ago,” said Councilman Alexander of the grant contract and MOA signed earlier this year. “My belief is that we attempt to work it out a third time.”

“If we pass it tonight, we are not getting any grant money,” said Councilman Ben Kinlaw. “This is the only program I have seen that reduces the number of animals going into the shelter. We have a pilot program that is working.”

Councilman Kinlaw asked for statistics from the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation prior to the meeting and shared that the Foundation has spent $187,000 in grant secured money over 13 years to aid the animals of Barnwell County.

Councilman Alexander then motioned to table the ordinance until the Nov. 15 regular meeting, which was seconded by Councilman Ben Kinlaw.

Councilman David Kenner and Councilman Houston voted to table the ordinance as well.

Chairman Buckmon, Councilman Jerry Creech, and Councilman Harper voted to approve the ordinance as is and it not to be tabled for further discussion.

With a four-to-three vote, the ordinance will be discussed at the Nov. 15 regular meeting.

Although TNVR has been misunderstood and misinterpreted amidst the increased animal control conversation, the program is already up and running successfully in Barnwell County at the hand of volunteers with the first half of the grant funds.

Many community members who are either caring for or privy to a clowder of cats have reached out to the TNR hotline and been put on the waiting list for TNR services. Donations have been made by community members and fundraisers are being planned to keep this program alive in Barnwell County outside the grant money from Best Friends.

According to the Best Friends Animal Society website, “TNR is the most humane and effective way to reduce community cat populations while saving cats’ lives and providing public health benefits.”

In Aiken County, the TNR program has proved to be an overwhelming success and aided the county shelter in receiving its ‘no kill’ status.

In an editorial written by Aiken County Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS) Vice President Joanna D. Samson for The Aiken Standard in March, Samson details the animal control related struggles of the county such as overpopulation and individuals dumping unwanted pets.

Samson writes, “Four reasons have made this possible: a county government committed to the proper care of its unwanted animals; dedicated shelter staff who are willing to experiment with innovative approaches to re-home shelter residents; the life-saving programs funded and implemented by FOTAS; and a generous community that shares our passion to give every abandoned animal a second chance to love and be loved.”

Based on Samson’s reasoning, Barnwell County has three of the four ingredients to creating a successful TNVR program.