CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Ayesha Brown says it’s a pack of pit bulls that is leaving her neighborhood on high alert.
“It makes me feel uncomfortable,” she said.
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She says the dogs have been roaming the lakeside townhomes on Riverdale Road for more than a week. She sent Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln video of the dogs roaming around residents’ cars and door steps. Brown says one resident could be heard getting chased by the dogs.
“She was screaming, you know, ‘I need help’” said Brown.
Brown says she was told by Clayton County Animal Control that there would be a delay in picking up the dogs because of staffing issues.
“[What] She said was that they didn’t have enough drivers,” Brown said.
“We are down 6 animal control officers, and four kennel techs,” said Officer Tiffany Phillips, a facility coordinator with Clayton County Animal Control.
Animal Control Officer Tiffany Phillips says staffing is the worst she’s seen in her 20 plus years of service.
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“This is probably the lowest amount of staffing that I’ve seen,” said Phillips.
She says at times only two animal control officers are patrolling the entire county, leaving them only to be able to respond to priority calls like dog bites or animal cruelty cases.
“We get short staffed, animals don’t get picked up, someone gets injured and the whole process starts over again,” Phillips said.
We found that counties like Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Cobb are all hiring for animal control positions.
“They’re all going through the same thing,” Phillips said.
Animal nonprofits say staffing shortages is a nationwide problem.
They say with understaffing and overcrowding, it’s a combination leading to increased animal euthanasia.
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In a 2020 report conducted by Best Friends, a no-kill animal nonprofit, Georgia ranks seventh in the nation among states with the highest euthanasia rates.
After speaking with the county, I found that they did eventually send out an officer to pick up the dogs from Brown’s neighborhood.
“Obviously you don’t want anybody getting injured, or getting harmed,” Phillips said.
To apply for Clayton County Animal Control jobs, click here.
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