Moore County's Animal Control Ordinance Committee packed up its papers, chains, traps and complaints Tuesday night and accepted its revised version of the ordinance.

The document now goes to the county attorney for review before it is submitted to the Board of Commissioners for consideration. The board will hold a public hearing before taking final action.

In 13 meetings dating to February, the committee has tackled dozens of issues, including several controversial measures on which agreement was difficult to achieve. Chaired by Mary Jo Morris, the panel discussed everything from the definition of a vicious dog to treatment of feral cats but steered away from such controversial requirements as licensure and taxation.

"I have never chaired a committee as diverse as this one," said Commissioner Jimmy Melton, who served as liaison with the Board of Commissioners. "This committee has addressed every issue that's come to our attention and hasn't backed off from any issue, including some issues we hadn't expected. This ordinance will be a tremendous benefit to the animals of this county."

The issues and the controversies were still present even as the committee wrapped up its work Tuesday night. A visitor raised objections to certain provisions included in the ordinance, and two committee members voted against acceptance of the finished document.

Despite the vote accepting the ordinance revisions, Morris and Melton advised committee members that their work may not be over and future meetings, perhaps on a quarterly basis, may be needed to study how the ordinance is working and to determine if further changes are needed. Melton said he would discuss the matter with his fellow county commissioners for consensus on whether the committee structure should be retained to meet future needs.

One final question remains -- that of communicating the changes to the public. Melton said this, too, will be discussed with the Board of Commissioners.

"Communication is important," said Angela Zumwalt, a member representing the Citizens' Pet Responsibility Committee. "It's no good doing all this work if people don't know about it."

Four remaining items were adopted during the Tuesday night meeting. All of these issues had been discussed at the last meeting, but the revised language had been polished up for final committee approval.

The item most likely to affect the average person pertains to the injury or death of a domestic animal struck by a motor vehicle.

The committee recommended that the driver inform the animal's owner or, if the owner cannot be found, notify local law enforcement or animal control officials as soon as possible. The language was designed to serve as an advisory to a driver whose vehicle is involved in an accident in which an animal is injured or killed. However, the driver will not be prosecuted if he or she does not notify the owner or officials.

Another item prohibits the possession or harboring of any nondomestic animal that is dangerous to persons or property or poses a potential danger.

This section does not apply to licensed circuses and petting zoos. The committee decided at the previous meeting not to exclude traveling commercial animal exhibitions of limited duration from the prohibition. Members did not want such traveling shows to bring exotic animals into the county because of difficulty in monitoring their treatment of the animals and the potential for danger to the public.

Early in the meeting, a letter from Jeanne Casinella was read to the committee on the subject of exotic, or nondomestic, animals. Casinella is a member of the committee but is out of town this summer and wanted her views known.

In her letter, Casinella encouraged the committee to restrict the possession of exotic animals, which she said can pose a danger to public health and to the ecosystem.

"Exotics are not pets," she wrote. "They cannot be domesticated."

One sentence was added to the provision covering feral cat colonies. It says that the "trap neuter release" system "is viewed as a viable alternative to euthanasia."

Wounded Animal Provision

It was the fourth item that raised the most vigorous debate among members.

This is the provision dealing with the destruction of wounded, diseased or unweaned animals. The paragraph provides that "any animal seized and impounded which is badly wounded, diseased (not a rabies suspect) and has no identification may be destroyed immediately in a humane manner." It further provides that unweaned animals may be humanely destroyed "after significant attempts to contact local animal shelters and/or individual rescuers have failed."

The situation is different if the animal has identification, in which case animal shelter or animal control officials must try to notify the owner before it is put to death. However, if the owner cannot be quickly reached and the animal is suffering, it may be put to death in a humane manner.

Corky O'Connor, the committee member representing the Humane Society of Moore County, asked the committee to add the requirement that the animal not be destroyed until it has been examined by a veterinarian.

O'Connor and Maureen Horansky-Burke, founder of Animal Advocates of Moore County, agreed on this issue, and both voted against acceptance of the ordinance revision.

Microchipping Best Way

Committee members were largely in agreement that microchip identification is the best way to assure that animals with owners will not be euthanized.

"No identification is the key problem," said Tim Morgan.

Dr. Beth Lyerly, a veterinarian, said microchipping may not be perfect but it is very helpful to veterinarians as well as animal control officers.

But O'Connor argued that on occasion injured animals that obviously have owners have been euthanized by animal control.

This came as a surprise to Al Carter, director of Moore County Animal Control, who said this was the first time he had heard of such a happening.

Carter said Animal Control personnel follow a strict policy and set of procedures in dealing with injured or sick animals. If they appear to be owned, these animals are to be examined and treated by the "in-house vet tech and, if deemed appropriate, transported to a local veterinarian for treatment."

Even if the dog or cat is not microchipped, ownership status can usually be determined by such factors as a collar, general health, grooming and disposition.

"If it sits when you say 'sit,' a dog usually has an owner," Carter said.

In such cases, a record is kept of treatment expenses, and the owner is asked to compensate the county.

However, the policy differs if the animal appears to be unowned, sick or injured and "its admission to the shelter would jeopardize the health of the other animals or cause an adoptable animal to be euthanized."

In addition to Carter, two other Animal Control staffers are committee members, Liz Garner and Frank Ringelberg.

O'Connor wants Animal Control to take the animal to a veterinarian immediately if it appears to be seriously injured, rather than leaving its treatment and future in the hands of a non-veterinarian technician at a shelter. She expressed fear that animal control officers may act too quickly to euthanize an animal even when it has characteristics indicating ownership, such as spay/neuter or well-cared-for condition.

The animal control people argued that it is cruel to allow an injured animal to suffer longer than necessary while waiting to see a veterinarian.

O'Connor said such suffering should not be necessary because the officers could give the animal a pain killer to relieve its suffering until a veterinarian is available.

'Judgment Factor'

Dr. Tom Daniel, a veterinarian member of the committee, was unable to attend the meeting, but he sent a message to the committee on this subject. Lisa Bridge, secretary to the committee, read the letter, in which Daniel praised the quality of the county's Animal Control program, including staff and facilities.

In the letter, Daniel pointed out that the public trusts the agency to euthanize healthy animals because of shelter space shortage and thus should be willing to trust the staff's judgment in dealing with a severely ill or injured animal.

"Euthanasia is not a perfect solution," Daniel wrote, adding that it poses a problem for experienced veterinarians as well.

County Manager Cary McSwain, also a committee member, said he could not have summarized Animal Control practices better than Daniel did in his message.

"It all comes back to the judgment factor," McSwain said. "Why should there be a different rule for a severely injured animal in pain than for a healthy animal?"

Carter said that situations involving severely injured animals are actually rare at the shelter. Out of about 5,000 animals brought to Animal Control in a year's time, fewer than 100 are euthanized "at the door," meaning that they are euthanized in less than the 72 hours the agency is required by law to hold an animal before adoption or euthanization.

"They are the most unfortunate 2 percent that come in the door," Carter said. "As much as we would like to devote the time and money to vet these animals and give them space to recover and restore their health, it would mean euthanizing several perfectly adoptable dogs and cats each time to make this happen and that's just not acceptable."

Horansky also came to the defense of the Moore County shelter. She told the committee that the local shelter should not be compared to those in other counties.

"Some are hell holes," Horansky said of animal shelters she has visited in other counties.

Garner pointed out that the Moore County shelter is well operated because the community supports a shelter that is well maintained and staffed by competent, caring people.

Concerns Raised

During the public-comment period early in the meeting, one visitor raised a series of concerns about provisions of the ordinance.

Lincoln Sadler, who identified himself as a wildlife biologist, said he opposes the "trap neuter release" policy regarding feral cats. He said feral cats "kill hundreds of thousands of song birds."

Feral cats are former domestic cats that have been abandoned or lost and have become "unsocialized to humans" and exhibit fear and resistance to contact with humans.

Individuals and groups sympathetic to their condition often provide sustenance to feral cats without attempting to domesticate them. Their services include trapping the cats, paying for sterilization surgery, providing rabies shots, then releasing them back into the wild. The concept is not to kill them but to prevent them from reproducing more feral cats.

Sadler also objected to the trapping provision, in which he said the county oversteps its authority.

Carter said that he had consulted the state Wildlife Commission on these provisions and that the ordinance is being reworded so as not to conflict with state law.

Sadler took issue with the use of Humane Society of the United States guidelines in establishing euthanasia practices. He was advised that the county ordinance is in compliance with state law on this issue.

The question of an animal owner's right to euthanize his or her own animal was raised, but Carter said the issue is not addressed in the proposed ordinance. Carter added that this is in keeping with state law which likewise does not address the practice of allowing an owner to euthanize a pet.

Morris thanked Sadler for speaking to the committee but expressed regret that he waited until the last meeting to make his concerns known.

Before the meeting was adjourned, the committee had one more dramatic moment.

Horansky displayed a heavy iron chain removed from a pit bull found dragging the chain down a municipal street. She said the chain apparently was being used to train the pit bull for dog fighting purposes.

She said that most people never see evidence of severe mistreatment of animals, but she said that AAMC volunteers witness such situations all too frequently.

Morris ended the discussion by telling about a Pinehurst man who has rescued three dogs from certain death by taking on their care although he is not wealthy.

"We're not all humane, caring citizens, but there are some true heroes out there," Morris said before the committee adjourned for at least three months.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.