Commissioners hear concerns about vicious dogs on Shady Cove 

‘They roam loose in our neighborhood and attack cats and chickens and pets’- Vickie Allen, resident

TOP PHOTO: Commissioners heard from two concerned citizens who reported problems with vicious dogs in the Shady Cove area of Campbell County.

By Charlotte Underwood 

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- Two concerned citizens who live in the Shady Cove area of Campbell County addressed commissioners at Monday evening’s county commission workshop, asking for help with what they deemed a “dangerous situation” and a “county-wide problem of vicious dogs.”

“We have a situation with a gentleman who has 19 dogs; he is in and out of court about them and he lied to prosecutors, saying he had gotten rid of all but three, but he still has them all and they are running lose and are a danger to people and pets in Shady Cove,” said Vickie Allen.

She reported that the un-named man’s dogs killed a deer that was in someone’s yard, and had killed numerous pets, including cats in the neighborhood.

“We called the sheriff’s department, and the dog warden came out and he said there’s 19 dogs down there, so we know he has not gotten rid of any of them. They roam loose in our neighborhood; They are attacking cats and chickens and pets. We have to carry bear spray just to take our small 12-year-old dog to go out to the bathroom,” Allen said, adding that she has heard from others that dogs roaming and causing problems was a “county-wide problem.”

According to Allen, the man who owns 19 dogs has been cited numerous times.

Campbell County Sheriff Barton told commissioners that his department had been called multiple times regarding the situation and that the man had received multiple citations.

Allen said the situation was “out of control and getting worse.”

“Getting something done about this has been a nightmare. They won’t listen to the law because it has no teeth. We are asking you to help us and to pass an ordinance that gives the sheriff and the dog warden the power to take care of this and do what they need to do. No-kill shelters do not work. We have an overpopulation of animals in this county,” Allen said.

Kelli Hayes addressed commissioners regarding the same issue, stating that the man’s dogs had killed her rooster recently and she had been forced to shoot one of the dogs, though it was still living.

“Three dogs killed my rooster…This guy cannot take care of his dogs. They damage property, they kill people’s pets… My mom is 77, a retired schoolteacher, she’s on blood thinners, cancer treatments, if they knock her down, it could kill her; we’re asking for help,” Hayes.

Hayes said she had lived in Shady Cove her whole life and that vicious dogs in the area were nothing new and that she herself had been attacked and bitten by dogs several years ago in the neighborhood, as had others.

Commissioner Rusty Orick addressed Campbell County Animal Shelter Director Patricia  Siwinski if she remembered the county previously passing an ordinance to help with this kind of issue.

“Didn’t we enact an ordinance that if you have over 10 dogs, you have to have a kennel license, does this man have that? The ordinance would have been passed in 2007 or 2008,” Orick said.

“That is correct, and it is still on the books. That is a citation through the sheriff’s department,”  Siwinski said, adding that she believed it was a $50 fine.  Siwinski also said that as the director of the animal shelter, she was responsible for the issuance of kennel licenses and that no one had applied for a kennel license in years.

The county mayor said he would pull the ordinance to check it.

The sheriff said he believed the sheriff’s department had the authority to remove the dogs, but asked commissioners if that was to happen, where would his department take the dogs.

“With our shelter being as full as it is, where would be take them? We have written multiple citations, but at $50 a whack, it’s not really that much,” Barton said.

Commission chair Johnny Bruce asked Count attorney Joe Coker to weigh in.

“As far as your authority, $50 is the maximum fine for violation of a county ordinance. These are civil matters as well though and that $50 fine doesn’t stop them bearing their own lawsuit in civil courts, which is not limited to $50, but they would have to do that at their own expense,” Coker said. 

“This gentleman was charged on a state charge, for having an animal at large, but the fine is the same on the state level, it’s $50,” Sheriff Barton said.

 Siwinski suggested hitting violators with the $50 ordinance fines for people having over 10 dogs, as well as making sure to check the animals for rabies shots, which if they do not have is a state violation and another $50 fine per animal. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/13/2024-6AM)