By Amber Thompson

athompson@newsaegis.com

After a pair of aggressive dogs were improperly surrendered at the Animal Shelter of Pell City, Inc., the County Commission stood behind county animal control’s decision to dispatch the animals with a gun.

During their regular meeting, County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon read a statement by Shelter Manager Pat Martin, which outlined the incident that occurred last Friday.

“There were two aggressive dogs dropped off in the animal shelter’s enclosure. You get to the gate, and you can pull it apart far enough to get dogs in there,” Batemon explained.

When an employee arrived at 7 a.m., she tried to contact St. Clair County Animal Control Officer Josh Wyatt, who was busy at the time.

“They did contact central dispatch to get a policeman out there, in case they had to shoot the dogs, they were being that aggressive,” Batemon said.

Two Pell City police officers, as well as Animal Control Officer Rose Ogden and Lt. Danny Holmes arrived at the scene.

“Danny said this was a shelter problem, not a police or animal control problem. They basically turned it over to the animal shelter,” Batemon said.

He advised them that Wyatt was on the way to the shelter to help.

When Wyatt arrived, Batemon said he asked about the shelter’s plans for the dogs.

“They’d have to euthanize them in some way, because they didn’t know whose they were, they were aggressive and somebody was gonna get hurt trying to catch them,” Batemon said. “Josh tried to catch them the normal way, but it was the same situation as the other people, they’d run and are aggressive at you, so Josh did what he does out in the field, which is, he dispatched them with a gun.”

Batemon reiterated that the use of a gun is a method that Wyatt is authorized to use if other methods to apprehend a vicious or aggressive animal do not work.

While there has been concern raised over the appropriateness of Wyatt’s use of a gun, particularly from the Pell City police department, Batemon said, the County Commission stood behind his decision.

“Josh was asked to help the animal shelter and not the city of Pell City, he did what he thought he should and he used his judgment on the ground at that time,” Batemon said. “We know those are difficult decisions for Josh, when you have to kill an animal, as much as he cares for animals. That was the decision that was made and yes, that’s going to cause some people to be very sensitive.

“But the worst case scenario would have been for those dogs to have gotten away from Josh and get out of that area and hurt somebody’s children. The situation was not a good situation for anybody, but it’s been handled, and it’s been handled to the satisfaction of the animal control staff.”

In other actions:

— Emergency sick leave and FMLA leave were approved for a county employee.

— The Aug. 18 Commission work session was rescheduled to 8 a.m. Aug. 23, due to commissioners attending the ACCA conference.

— Mileage for county use of a personal vehicle was raised from 51 cents to 55.5 cents per mile effective today, in accordance with the county’s policy to match the rate paid by the state of Alabama.

—  A bid for EMA document imaging was awarded to DataTech Solutions, LLC, in the amount of $44,300.

— Shirley Phillips was appointed to the St. Clair County DHR Board to complete the term of James Reeves, which expires Sept. 1, 2011.

— A budget amendment for the roads department was approved. A total of $60,500 was needed for a compact track loader — $20,000 of which will be reimbursed by an EMA grant — and $220,000 in additional fuel money was needed to finish out the year. County Engineer Dan Dahlke said the fund balance in the seven-cent fund would cover the amount needed.

— The commission appointed Batemon, Dahlke and Commissioner Jeff Brown to a committee to verify that the debris clean-up from county rights-of-way was completed to their satisfaction, before allowing Batemon to sign a memorandum of record to acknowledge that part of the project’s completion.

— The Commission approved Dahlke to issue waivers to the garbage pick-up companies, as well as fire departments and propane delivery companies that may need to violate the posted three-ton weight limit on the bridge on River Crest Drive in Pell City. Currently, any vehicle over three tons which crosses the bridge does so at it’s own risk. With the waiver, the county will take on liability should the bridge collapse, however, Batemon said Dahlke was confident in the bridge’s structural integrity. The waivers are only being issued for necessary services like waste management and fire protection, and Dahlke said the waste management company has agreed to use its lightest vehicle in that area. The Commission also approved Dahlke to obtain an engineering firm to draw up plans to repair the bridge. Dahlke estimated the cost of the consultant to range from $30,000 to $50,000.

— Removal of the phone number of the county’s storm damage volunteer line from the county’s website was approved. The phone number will remain functional, but will not be advertised any longer.