Columbus, Georgia

August 19, 2002







Mr. John Zitzelberger

7401 Blackmon Road #1704

Columbus GA 31909-4493



Dear Mr. Zitzelberger:



I am in receipt of your letter dated August 12, 2002. I have read it very

carefully and have come to the conclusion that you were not told the entire

truth regarding the City Permit, how it came about and what we do with the

data.



In 1984, the City of Columbus was posed with the problem of either taking over

Animal Control responsibilities or loosing this service all together. The

Health Department/State could no longer provide this service. Therefore, it

was discussed in great detail and agreed by the Council to assume these

responsibilities and to implement a City Permit fee to fund this service. Our

leaders, at this time, understood the importance of the Rabies vaccination and

how animals not vaccinated against the disease could pose a very serious health

risk to the human population. Therefore, in addition to the funding of this

service, this permit was put in place to ensure animal owners vaccinated their

animals for rabies.



As for the data acquired from the purchase of these permits/vaccinations, it is

used for the benefit of all residents of Columbus, Georgia and not just for

Animal Control purposes. If a person is bitten by a domestic animal, having

this information, immediately tells us whether or not there is a potential for

rabies or even if the person will have to seek immediate medical treatment for

rabies exposure. Without this information, we have to quarantine the animal or

send the carcass for testing in Albany, GA.



Annually the Animal Control section receives over 50,000 complaints or

telephone calls on animals in Columbus. A lot of these calls are due to people

not being responsible pet owners. I have nine Animal Control Officers who work

24 hrs per day, seven days per week, in shifts to handle the animal population

of Columbus, Georgia. We all must understand that as our human population

grows so does our animal population, but we still have the same number of

Officers we had in 1984. Yes, we are tasked with a hard job, but we take pride

in the job we are able to do and look to people like you to assist us by being

responsible pet owners.



We also recognize the importance of ?Outreach Programs? to educate the public

on how to be responsible, but we simply do not have the funding for these types

of programs. We now have a partner in tackling all of these issues. ?Pets Are

Worth Support? or ?PAWS, Inc?, is our new partner and together we are

collaborating on various outreach programs to educate the public on why being a

responsible pet owner in crucial to animal welfare as well as our community as

a whole.



I am sorry you felt ?grudgingly? when you purchased your city permit, but I can

assure you that if your animals happen to get loose, by them having on their

collars with their permits, we are able to access the information we need to

return your animals to you, safe and unharmed. Without this identification,

we don?t know who to return the animals too.



In closing, I would like to inform you that the Animal Control section falls

under the general fund, therefore, each year it?s operational budget is funded

by the City of Columbus. We look forward to our partner?s abilities to fund

the outreach aspects of animal welfare. Believe me if we had the funding, we

would do it, but right now all of our funds are used towards the enforcement of

people being responsible pet owners. I wish I had more pet owners who were

responsible, like you.



Thanks you for taking the time to write. It?s important for our legislative

body to understand the importance of animal welfare. Should you have any

questions, please feel free to contact me at 653-4512.



Respectfully,







Drale Short

Chief

Special Enforcement



ALS