Local citizens take complaints about animal control to City Commissioners; Breckenridge City officials say they have a plan
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series by the Breckenridge Texan on the animal problems in Breckenridge and Stephens County, Texas. Additional articles are linked at the end of this story.
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
For almost 30 minutes during the Breckenridge City Commission meeting last Tuesday, Aug. 6, local citizens and community leaders discussed the animal control problems in the area before Mayor Bob Sims said that was enough discussion on the topic and moved the meeting to the next agenda item.
Kathy O’Shields, president of the Stephens County Humane Society, specifically addressed the situation that happened earlier this year when Police Chief Blake Johnson directed an animal control officer and another City employee to take a stray cat that was at the City’s animal shelter and leave it at the park area of Lake Daniel. Johnson has said that the action was legal since the property at the lake is owned by the City of Breckenridge. Click here to read the Breckenridge Texan’s previous article about the incident.
Stephens County Humane Society President Kathy O’Shields, right, addresses the Breckenridge City Commissioners at the Aug. 6 meeting. Also pictured are City Manager Cynthia Northrop, seated left, and City Secretary Jessica Sutter. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
“The Humane Society is here to discuss the dumping of cats at Lake Daniel. Just because the city owns the property, it does not make it legal. There is no gray line in law,” O’Shields said. “Lake Daniel is in the middle of nowhere. No one is there to release custody of the animal to. Per many calls to other attorneys, SPCA investigators, the Texas Humane Legislative Network and our local county attorney, the law was broken.”
O’Shields said the local Humane Society is asking for reprimands for everyone involved in the situation. “You as a city have set a bad example to this community,” she said. “How do you expect the county attorney to prosecute anyone else for doing what the city has done when no one is held accountable?”
She also brought up a recent situation in which a newborn puppy was found dead after the mother dog had given birth at the shelter. The Humane Society has since moved the mother and remaining puppies to a foster home, O’Shields said.
“There are so many issues … that (need) to be addressed by the city. Loose and dangerous dogs are everywhere. Other animals are killed, and yet you as a city can’t seem to get it in control,” she said.
“As mayor and commissioners, you’re elected by the people to do what is in the best interest of the citizens and the community,” O’Shields continued. “Former Mayor Virgil Moore, who was commissioner (Vince) Moore’s grandfather, and the city manager at that time, Gary Earnest, were instrumental in helping us build this shelter for this community. The shelter became greatly respected. Now the shelter has become a dog pound. All the reasons I have outlined are the reasons the city and the shelter is looked at negatively by the community. We are trying as hard as we can to help the community and the animals. We’re going to have to work together to get the shelter, the animal situation, where it needs to be.”
O’Shields requested that the City officials create a committee including the city manager, the chief of police, Animal Control Officer Shorie Henderson, two members of the Humane Society, Commissioner Greg Akers — who was a Humane Society board member until he resigned from that position when he was elected as a City Commissioner — and one other commissioner or resident.
“Please, let’s get things where they need to be,” O’Shields said. “Please, remember, we are all God’s creatures. We, as the Humane Society, are their voice and will continue to be so.”
Following O’Shields’ comments, Police Chief Johnson addressed the commissioners about the circumstances surrounding the decision to leave the cat at Lake Daniel. He made reference to a City of Breckenridge ordinance that gives owners five days to claim animals at the shelter; after that, the animal becomes the property of the City.
Breckenridge Police Chief Blake Johnson, standing, addresses the City Commission on Aug. 6 regarding an incident in which he directed two City employees to leave a cat at the park area of Lake Daniel. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
“Another policy that is set forward … that we were involved in, was after five days, animals were to be put down, euthanized, and so as we were going forward … with this decision about what we want to do with the cats … it was a very difficult decision, because ultimately, as we were trying to move away from getting into putting down and euthanizing animals, one of the things that we talked about was the ability to be able to put an animal in a place, so that we would be able to give it an opportunity, as opposed to putting it down right away.”
However, the ordinance that Johnson appears to be referencing provides a legal alternative to euthanizing unclaimed animals. From the City of Breckenridge’s Code of Ordinances’ Chapter 4 on Animals and Fowl, Section 4-31(f) states:
“Any animal not reclaimed by its owner within five (5) days of impoundment shall become the property of the city and shall be or (sic) euthanized in a humane manner or transferred to an animal welfare organization for adoption in a suitable home. The day of impoundment shall be considered the first day of this five-day period.”
Johnson and City Manager Cynthia Northrop previously indicated that they did not attempt to contact the Humane Society or any other organization before they decided to leave the cat at Lake Daniel.
Commissioner Akers questioned the police chief about whether the five-day rule is always enforced, as well as about how long the cat had been at the shelter. Johnson said the cat had been at the shelter for “well over five days.”
During that conversation, Humane Society member Stacey Donaldson spoke up. “You never posted to see if it had an owner. Never, never posted it, never posted it for adoption or anything. You just took it out there to die,” she said.
“That was a bad decision on our part and for some reason, the city will not accept that responsibility,” Akers said.
When asked by someone in the crowd at the meeting if everyone could just start dumping animals on City property, Johnson said, “That’s a great position. And I guess what I would say is that the law ultimately allows you to be able to put cats or dogs on your property. … you cannot drop it on those people’s property. In fact, just last week, we had somebody come out to the shelter and put a dog over the fence. This is an animal abuse case, and it is something we’re investigating because, like I said, this is not acceptable. That’s that’s abandonment under the law, and that’s where we’re going forward with.”
The Humane Society, along with other legal experts, maintains that the City cannot release animals at Lake Daniel or any other location without violating a City ordinance and a state law that specify that animals must be placed in the care or custody of another person.
“I don’t care how you word it or what you say, what you did is break the law. … (City Attorney) Eileen (Hayman), she can believe what she believes. She can say there’s a gray line in the law. I do not care,” O’Shields said, making reference to the City Attorney, who was at the meeting but did not speak about the animal control issue. Likewise, citing attorney-client privilege, Hayman declined to comment to the Breckenridge Texan when we reached out to her late last month for input on the situation.
“I have talked to probably 20 people in this position who have done this, from DAs to county attorneys to investigators, they all have said you broke the law,” O’Shields continued. “There is no gray line. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. I don’t care if you own every piece of property in this town, you can’t take them out and turn them loose. … How do you know it’s a feral cat? If you put my cat in a trap, it’s going to be wild, and, yet, you would have taken it out there.”
Johnson said that the City has since determined that releasing animals at Lake Daniel is not the best way to handle the situation. “I presented forward the opportunity to let y’all know this is our legal aspect. The one thing I would come back to and let you know is, through the process, the one thing I can tell you is we have identified that this is not a best practice,” he said. “We’ve sought to have the input within community, so that we have the ability to look at future plans.”
One of the issues that the City has had is that the animal shelter is no longer equipped to house cats. Reportedly, the cat that was taken to Lake Daniel was trapped by a local resident and given to the shelter. Since then, the City has updated its animal-related ordinances so that it no longer accepts animals that have been impounded by members of the public.
Additionally, Johnson said he doesn’t think the City has the authority to pick up stray cats. “They’re either feral, which means that they’re allowed to run free, or they’re owned by people, and they have the ability to have their cats out in that place,” he said. “It’s an issue for which, I can assure you, was never under control before I got here, and in the 90 days I’ve been here, I don’t know that you’d be surprised that I haven’t gotten under control yet. … I can assure you that it’s something we’re working on, but it is something that, obviously, like I said, we’re continuing to put forward the resources and time into.”
Stephens County residents Dana and Burrell McKelvain attended the Aug. 6 Breckenridge City Commission meeting. Dana addressed the commissioners about the animal control problems in the community. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Stephens County resident Dana McKelvain spoke up about the dangers of loose dogs and reiterated O’Shields’ request for the City to form a committee.
“I was the home health nurse for the grandparents of the little boy that was mauled to death by the pit bulls years ago. Jim Reeves, who was the sheriff then, said it was the most horrible thing he had ever seen in his life. And I used to think, if I drove up on that in my car, what would I have done? I don’t carry a weapon; what would I have done? We’re going to have that again if we don’t get a handle on it,” McKelvain said. “… I live in the county, I don’t live in the city, but I’m asking the city commissioners to get together and do what Kathy asked. We’re asking for a real solution. We don’t want it tabled. We don’t want it put off. Form a committee with the people that she mentioned, and let’s get this show on the road.
“If you think it can’t be done, you need to look at Abilene, Texas,” she continued. “… You can make a difference. But they got on board with the police and the city manager and the commissioners, and they actually did something. They didn’t keep postponing it. And I expect that from Stephens County. My husband’s family has lived here for over 100 years, and we want better.”
City Manager Northrop addressed those at the meeting, maintaining that, although the decision to take the cat to the lake property wasn’t the best decision, it was legal. She also talked about the problems with dogs running loose in the community. “We have done a strategic plan. We hear the community loud and clear that the public safety is an issue, and that is where we are focusing our resources, like a laser, to hammer on loose dogs and vicious dogs,” Northrop said. “… We’re not going to solve this problem until we can build trust and until we can work together, and that is my goal. I know that is the chief’s goal. I know that’s our animal control officers’ (goal).”
The City has a plan for dealing with the loose dogs and has been taking more enforcement action, rather than giving warnings, to people whose dogs aren’t controlled, Northrop said. She also stated that she’s interested in creating a committee, like O’Shields requested.
For a couple of more minutes, the conversations continued between the City Manager, commissioners and citizens attending the meeting, before Mayor Sims interrupted. “OK, enough on that,” he said. “We’ve got more to do. We can get together on this later, which we need, but we’ve got more to do tonight. I think enough has been said at this point in time, please.”
Click here to read more about the rest of the Aug. 6 City Commission meeting.
Previous articles in the Breckenridge Texan’s series on animal control in the City of Breckenridge and Stephens County:
Is Breckenridge’s Animal Control out of control? Some local residents think so.
Breckenridge Texan takes deep look into animal control problem in Breckenridge and Stephens County
Additional articles will be added to this list as they are posted.
Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge City Commissioner Greg Akers, left, and Police Chief Blake Johnson, standing, discussed policies and practices at the Breckenridge Animal Shelter during the Aug. 6 City Commission meeting. Pictured, clockwise from left, are: Akers, City Commissioner Blake Hamilton, City Attorney Eileen Hayman, City Manager Cynthia Northrop, Johnson, City Finance Director Diane Latham, Vicki Mercer and Stacey Donaldson. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
