Nuisance Animal - Any animal that:
(a) Damages, soils,
defiles, eliminates or defecates on private property other than its
owner’s property or on public property;
(b) Causes unsanitary or offensive conditions or otherwise endangers public
health, welfare or safety;
(c) Causes a disturbance by barking, howling or other noisemaking for a period
of more than 15 minutes;
(d) Chases vehicles, bicycles, or people;
(e) Is in estrus and not confined in a manner which can keep it away from
intact males of the same species; or
(f) Causes serious annoyance to a neighboring residence and interferes with the
reasonable use and enjoyment of that property.
Reference: Cobb
County Animal Control Ordinances Website ( http://animalcontrol.cobbcountyga.gov/ordinances.htm
)
| Tips on Dealing with Cobb County Animal Control 1. Find the address of the nuisance animal(s). 2. Write down the incident with date and times. Try to describe the violation in terms of the Nuisance Animal Ordinances listed above. (Example: On Sunday 3/26/06 Nuisance Barking 12:73am Dogs woke me up. At least 30 seconds of howling and barking from at least 2 dogs. This was max volume with no break in the noise. 7:18am barking woke me up. Again howling and regular barking together from at least 2 different dogs. On Wednesday Night 3/29/06 Nuisance Barking 7:25pm dog howling started with 15 to 30 howls per minute. The single dog was still howling at 7:45pm when the dog took a 2 minute break after a continuous 20 minutes. Howling resumed at 7:47pm and is still going strong at 7:56PM and continued until at least 8:00pm. Howling seemed to be from a single dog.) 3. Contact Animal Control. The website is Cobb Animal Control . They have telephone numbers listed here and an online complaint form. Fill out the online form and follow up with a telephone call during regular hours. Do not expect immediate response. Note: The police might respond but only after 11:00pm and if they are not busy. It is best to ask for an Animal Control Officer to come to your house. Request an AOC (see below). 4. The first complaint should result in a warning to the owner of the animal. Sometimes this works especially if they are a homeowner. If they are a renter you may be in for a month long procedure. 5. After the warning, citations can be written that are up to $1000 fine and require the offender to go to court. 6. For a citation to be written, you need to fill out an AOC which is an Affidavit of Complaint. If you don't know the answer to an AOC question state that or leave blank. The Animal Control Officers tell me that they have not lost a case since this has been used. It is not often that they are a witness to the offending barking and the AOC is used as testimony against the offender. Use the online complaint and state that an AOC has been filled out. Follow up with a phone call to Dispatch requesting that an Animal Control Officer PICK UP the AOC. If you aren't at home, it can be left outside your front door with Cobb Animal Control written on the envelope. 7. Every time that you are bothered make a complaint. The fines will add up. The renters will leave and the homeowners will obey or go broke. 8. This is the bad part. It takes 30 days for the first citation to go to court. If the animals are driving you crazy then you have to keep the complaints coming in as they occur. The Animal Control Officers have priorities such as dog bites, animals in auto accidents, hit deer, abusive owners and lastly barking dogs. They also must deliver the citations in person and find the offender at home. 9. Contact me at crhoa@bellsouth.net for information. |
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