I hate small towns.

[whitelop]

Y'all I am so mad right now. Furious, shaking mad.

Where I live, is in between two towns. One is closer to me than the other, but technically I live in the one thats further away. If that makes sense.
Anyways, I went to the food lion in the town closest to me and as I'm loading the stuff into the back of the truck this dog comes up to me in the parking lot.
She looked to be about 6 months old and looked to be a german shepherd x husky. Shepherd markings blue eyes. Very pretty. BUT COMPLETELY EMACIATED. I could see every rib bone, every vertebrae, and her hip bones. I opened up a potato chip bag and threw her some chips. I then ran back into the store, bought a leash, can of dog food and some beggin strips.

Okay, to make a long story short. She got away from me and I was trying to follow her in my truck. My son was with me so I couldn't follow her on foot. I followed her around the neighborhood in the middle of town as she wandered through the yards and chased birds and squirrels.

The reason I'm so mad is...
The county we live in has an animal control, shelter, the whole nine yards. I called them and told them I needed help catching the dog because I had my son and couldn't do it on my own. She said are you in the city limits of Clover, (which is the town) I told her yes? She was like, 'well, we can't help you. You have to call this number ____ and thats Clover's animal control. We're not allowed to come into Clover as animal control' She gave me the number and THE GUY DIDN'T ANSWER THE PHONE! So I called him back several times as I'm riding around following the dog. Finally I called the police department to see if they could help me, the woman was a total *badword* and was totally rude to me. She told me that the guy was out of the office and the other guy was off today. THERE ARE ONLY 2 ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS FOR THE WHOLE FREAKING TOWN. I flipped on her. Then apologized to her, then flipped again and told her to have a good day.
I called the county animal control again and told the woman that the guy couldn't help me and asked if there was anything she could do and what I should do. (by this point I had totally lost the dog) She put me on hold and came back and told me that there wasn't anything she could do for me because I was in the city limits! She apologized and was almost in tears, she told me that Clover decided that they didn't want the county help with animal control and decided not to allow them to come in a help. So I had to keep calling that guy and then go to town hall and try to get them to change it.
I was in tears by the end of our phone call. I told her, 'you know, I always wondered why the animal situation was so bad in this town, but now I know. Because there are only 2 guys trying to combat all of this! Its ridiculous.' She agreed and apologized again.

Then I stopped and cried. I couldn't find the dog anymore. I drove around and around the area I had last seen her in, I called my mom and screamed about the lack of humanity that the world has. I'm so mad and heart broken.
I'm going to that freaking town hall meeting during their next one and I'm going to find out why there are only 2 people trying to fix the animal problems!

I'm sorry to rant this all out to you guys, but I know you're all animal lovers and you'll understand my frustration. Not many people really care though, all the people at the grocery store, just look and make a sad face at the dog, but keep on going about their business. No one even looked back to see if I needed help or see if she was okay. No one really cares. Then this guy looks at me and is like 'hey, is that your dog?' As he eyeballs me a little too hard. I yelled something at him, jumped back in the truck and sped off.

I just really hate people and I hate this little podunk town.

 

[LakeCondo]

These kind of jurisdictional problems happen everywhere, here in Chicago vs Cook Co etc. When budgets are tight the problems get more serious. No one wants their taxes raised, but everyone wants all the services. Now if you wanted to volunteer as an unpaid animal control person, you might be welcomed with open arms, even if it meant they had to provide you with equipment.

 

[whitelop]

The thing is, the county has $32+ million dollars worth of surplus money, so why can't they afford to pay a few more animal control officers?

 

[agnesthelion]

Aww poor dog and good for trying to help him/her! I can just picture a German shepherd/husky with blue eyes.....gorgeous.

People just suck. There are too many unwanted pets in this world. Which is probably why I have my preconceived notions about breeders. Yes, you may be a good breeder....but man, it's so hard to see all the unwanted pets out there and no matter how you spin it you are adding to it

I read an article not too long ago about city cuts. Not just where I live but across the country. One of the first areas is animal control. I guess they have to rate "importance" and that falls closer to the bottom. I'm not sure what I think! Every gov't/state/federally funded program is short on funds. We have starving people in the united states for pete sake!! But anyway, it sucks but I'm sure they are all following protocol and they are governed by the state. And wow, that's crazy that they have 32 million dollars just sitting around!!

I feel horrible for that poor dog. I sure hope some good person finds the dog and can help

 

[whitelop]

I hope so Lisa. I think I'm going to ride back into town and ride around and see if I can find her, without my son this time.
I know that will probably be the last time I go into that town though. I spent too much money at that grocery store and then I get smacked in the face with a skinny dog that I can't catch.
I emailed the guy and told him thanks for all his help. I also filed a complaint with the town for the amount of animal control officers and the lack of support from the county. I live in the same county but not the same town, so I don't know if the taxes would affect us. But, my husband wouldn't mind a tax raise for something like that, to fund the animal control department; if thats what it really went to.

They keep the money stock piled so they can put it new shopping areas and stupid things like that. The welfare of most of the county doesn't bother the people in charge, as long as everything in the towns looks good. And all the store fronts are sparkly and there are fountains everywhere. We spent like a million dollars last year in one town just on decorative fountains.

Ahhh. I have to go do something else and get away from this computer, because I'm still so mad that I'm going to wind up finding out where the mayor lives and going to his house or something! I'm so disappointed in people right now. I feel like I feel this way about people like every other week. I'm so glad I stay at home everyday and I'm a little shielded from the world. I'll just stick to my farm and be happy.

 

[Imbrium]

wow, what a crappy story . I can't believe the city would ban the county folks from helping out even though they obviously aren't handling the problem on their own. I really hope you can find the poor puppy and get some real food into her!

 

[whitelop]

I never did find her. I went back last night and rode down every street and didn't see her at all. It was dark and maybe she was in a bush somewhere, but I'm totally heartbroken over this.

The guy NEVER called me back or emailed me back! Its been WELL OVER 24 hours and still NO WORD FROM HIM. I guess thats the way animal control works in that town. I'm really tempted to tell the news station that handles these kinds of things. I don't know if I want my name all over everything though, but I do want some kind of justice. I'm going to call Town Hall tomorrow and orally give them my complaint. I'm really pissed off still.

 

[whitelop]

So the guy emailed me back and I missed it yesterday.
Here is the email. Tell me what you guys think that it means. I think that it means that, they don't care about any of the animals, because they're off doing other things and not answering the phone. I think I'm going to email this to the news. What I don't understand is, the county that the town is in, has the shelter that the town takes the dogs to, they have the animal control officers that aren't allowed in the town. The town is PART of that county! AHH. Its infuriating. People don't want to pay more taxes for things that are important but they sure don't have a problem buying unnecessary items like game consoles, electronics, drugs.
Here is the email:
Ms. ___________
I’m sorry that no one was available to handle your call. Clover’s Animal Control Dept. consists of one full time and one part time officer. We do not sit by the phone waiting for calls but are often in the truck or out of the office. We handle other duties in addition to animal control such as code enforcement and building inspections. The fact is, yes, we are stretched thin and we do the best we can and often that means prioritizing our time to provide services for Town citizens as efficiently as possible.

We frequently get reports about wandering dogs or cats. We respond when we’re available but we are usually unable to catch the animal, as they are often wary of strangers. Had there been an emergency involving an animal (dog bite or vicious dog), people who live in Clover know to call the Police Dept. and the PD knows how to get in touch with us. A wandering dog is sad, but not an emergency. A wandering dog is in fact a common occurrence. And had I been able to capture the dog, it likely would have been put to death by the YC Animal Shelter as they are overflowing with stray dogs and cats.

You make some valid points but I am unable to change the staffing levels for my department. Many Clover residents would likely be unwilling to have their taxes raised to support hiring additional personnel to attend the phone 24/7 to handle stray dog calls. But you are welcome to make your thoughts known to the Town Council members or the Town Manager. My understanding is that you live on _______ Rd., which is not in Clover so I’m sorry that I can’t take the time here to respond more fully to your concerns.

I do appreciate your concern for animal welfare and hopefully we will be available if you have need of us again.

Sincerely,
A jerk who doesn't live in Clover either. (Those are my words, but he really doesn't live in Clover, he lives way away from town. 10 feet of my property is in Clover limits, so bam *******!)

 

[Imbrium]

the last line about "which is not in Clover so I’m sorry that I can’t take the time here to respond more fully to your concerns" sounds condescending as hell >.>

if you can find a way to raise a fuss, I'm all for it - they should be letting the county help them out if they're understaffed, which he admitted they are.

 

[audrinasmommy88]

i would've been driving my happy tail straight to there office and asking him "Since Im in your office now, can you properly deal with my concerns??" What a Jerk

 

[whitelop]

He's never in the office! He runs like a house inspection business, so he is the 'part time officer' the other one is the 'full time officer'. But I use those terms lightly, since neither one of the has actually called me back. lol Just sent me a rude a-hole like email. I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do. Every time I think about it, I get upset and I need a few days to calm down about it. I've already filled a complaint with the town, so maybe something will come of that. It just makes me so mad and my blood pressure soars when I think about it!

 

[Imbrium]

I'd feel the same way! I mean, geez, if you can't do your job properly and someone is volunteering to help you, why would you tell them to f-off? maybe you could call the nice county folks back and ask them what you should do if you want to complain about them not being allowed to help.