Page 6-A?THE BRUNSWICK BEACO
Sea Trail I
Control O;
BY SUSAN USHER
A group of Sea Trail residents appealed
to Brunswick County Commissioners
Monday for a leash law in
"developed, unincorporated areas"
of the county.
The remedy offered may be more
specific and less comprehensive than
a leash law, but it should also be
more enforceable, indicated County
Attorney David Clegg. He and Health
Director Thomas Blum arc to present
a proposal by the board's July 1
meeting.
Commissioners stopped in the middle
of a full day of budget deliberations
to conduct business Monday
night, returning to the budget about
10 p.m.
Commissioner Frankie Kabon,
who lives In rural Winnabow, said he
wanted the animal ordinance to stop
short of allowing the county to pick
up one of his deer dogs if it wanders
into a yard.
"None of my dogs have steering
wheels on them," he said. "I can't
direct them where to go."
Ann Masline and other Sea Trail
residents elaborated for about two
hours Monday night on their harrowing
experiences with strays.
Stray dogs and cats have destroyed
her personal property, damaging the
ductwork of her doublcwide mobile
home and digging large holes in her
lawn; and kept her from entering her
home, she said. As many as 10 strays
have taken up residence in her yard.
Margie Merrill said a stray Dobcrman
recently "mutilated" her poodle,
hospitalizing it for three days.
"He wiii never be right again," she
said.
Residents also have not lie en im
mune irom attacK.
Irene Parker was bicyling when a
dug that iiad no! had its rabies shot
bit her on ihe leg. 'Hie dug was Impounded
for observation; she had to
undergo treatment.
"The dog problem has Just continued
to grow, almost to outpopulate
the rest of us," she said.
"You can look at them and see
they're not well fed or cared for properly."
\~WTRIE HAWING #T[ I
BOAT
SHOW
[THIS WEEKENCWVr
MIKE'S vCi
MARINE >r
Friday & Saturday
May 24 & 25
/
D*al CLJ... U
HVUI rfllUlf S1UUI 9
9 AM-7 PM
[OUTBOARDS]
Hwy 130 Wo?l, Shcillotto J
I 754 6080
Ij.M. Parkei
Your Complete Bui
734
HWYS. HI A 17
:r ^KjKBtrV
. Modular
l
Rattan & Upholstere<
Stop in and see JeH or F
and furniture needs.
Ocean Isl
Mwy 179 at Airporl
' W ft
I
N, i nursuuy, May 23, 1285
Residents St
f Stray Ann
Animal Control Supervisor Zelma
Babson said a countywide survey by
CETA employees six years ago found
,.c ti..~ r?.nti..
all <JVCld?C Ul lire JJCI IclllUIJ,
with some households claiming 15 to
25 animals. "It's grown since then,"
she added.
Whatever the situation, said Dick
Good, "these stray animals have to
be removed. Whether they (animal
control) have enough personnel to do
that Is a another question.
"They must be removed, impounded
and a fee for reclaiming them
established so that owners who fail to
take responsibility for their animals
will have to do so."
The county animal control program
presently consists of three
health department employees who
provide 24-hour emergency coverage
county wide, operate an animal
pound at Supply and answer calls on
a priority basis.
An ordinance to more tightly
regulate strays has not been submit?
...I 1)1..... #..|.l ) 'I. .. ......I I : ?
it'u \ii uvnnj.MV , mum iuiu in
rcspoasc to a question, because the
staff cannot take on any additional
duties.
"We had a concern with generating
demand without the staff to deal with
it," he said.
"Our entire program is based on
telephone colls," he said. "We don't
have the staff to do anything more."
last year, the staff investigated
143 dog bites and picked up 3,28!
dogs, including 505 in the peak month
of June.
However, the health board lias sub
mitted a budget proposal that includes
a doubling of the animal control
budget to cover items such as
overtime pay i workers had been accumulating
compensatory time off
they could not take) and expansion of
the shelter.
The request was submitted, Mum
said, "not because of a commitment
to protect dogs, but because we're
eonunittcd to protecting the people."
The department lias proposed implementation
of a neighborhood
survey upproach, which tackles
education, prevention and enforcement
on a community by community
bants.
As an area becomes more
populated, lie noted, the problems
associated with stray animals get
worse.
Sea Trail, with MO to 600 homes
near Sunset Bench, is one of the
largest and most heavily developed
areas In the south end of the county.
Increasing problems of an urban
nature countywidc are forcing
Brunswick County Into a "pioneering"
role, Chopped pointed out.
Solutions
Attorney Clegg said Uie county
m>i?t jwj specific in any law adopted
because the more general it is, the
harder it Is to enforce.
A specific violation, he suggcted,
would Ik- making it Illegal for a dog to
i & Sons, Inc.
i/ding Headquarters I
-4331
Supply
>,-r . V-r.Vmmmmm"1
] bh ip^ic
Dy Craftmaster
J Living Room Groups
luth for oil your oppliance
e Furniture
579 9434
FREE DELIVERY
41 *4t<vtwv*
sek
rials
nltnnlr Q KlI pi itiknn r\K tttn
aiuiLi\ a ui\-j liioi VYIIC.II wn uic
owner's property.
T*?c county presently doss not
enter private property to pick up
animals without the owner's permission.
Except in specific circumstances,
it will not pick up an
animal that has a county tag and
rabies tag.
"The mere fact your (vaccinated)
dog is running loose doesn't constitute
a violation of the law," Clegg
said. "The dog must be running loose
and doing something."
That "something" might be
anything from damaging property to
attacking a human.
"If I came home and a dog was on
-? U T? J M n?f nn
III/ pUlt.ll, a U uint a niinuiit uu? VII
the owner," Clegg said. "I don't
know how far I'd get, but I'd sure
raise a stink."
But one Sea Trail property owner
said residents of that area didn't
want to have to "go to the trouble" of
getting a lawyer and suing after the
damage has been dene; they went
the county to pick up the animals
before that point.
Also, said another, "What if you
don't know who the owner is?"
As far as homegrown remedies are
concerned, in answer to specific,
written questions from the group
Clegg said he wasn't advocating the
shooting of strays.
"But if a dog were to die," he add
cd, the owner would have difficulty
prosecuting for damages if he had
not listed the animal as property for
county tax purposes.
However, setting out poison would
create additional problems of liability,
he said, because of having "inherently
dangerous" toxic products
where children and others might be
affected.
And. in prosecuting a case in court,
he said, "clear and convincing"
evidence is required, as defined "by
the court that day." Photographs in
themselves cannot be introduced as
photogrnplis, but only to collaborate
or explain testimony.
Supply Man
Employee Fo
A iiinnlv rnnn hnv filivl n tlOTt (?W1
lawsuit against the Atlantic
Telephone Membership Corporation
and one of its employees to cover
medical expenses caused by a
January auto accident.
Ralph W. Cosby, of Route 3, Box
217, Supply, filed suit in Brunswick
County District Court on May 13,
seeking $100,000 from ATMC and its
employee, C.ene Cox. According to
the suit, Cox was driving an ATMC
van on Jan. 28,1985 when it struck the
rear of a 1979 Ford Fiesta driven by
Cosby at the intersection of N.C. 130
and RPR 1130 near Shallottc.
Cosby was stopped at a stop sign to
nllrttt* n rl?irvsrs f?i?nV in nnee i.ihon tK.>
*? % ? Mvn ?v |Ai,ki nitvn tin
ATMC van ran into the rear of lus
car, the suit states.
The operator of the von was
negligent for driving his van into the
rear of another car and for failing to
reduce speed to the extent to avoid a
collision. It states.
As a result of the collision, Cosby
lias suffered "serious, painful and
permanent bodily injury causing
Announcii
Red Tew, formerly
of Red's Plumbing
opening his new c
Tew's P
Near Oceai
Red has over 25
and a qualified stc
tion of over 20 ye
Looking for
< Check Red's rates
1 pleasantly surpris*
"No job too bit
f
in MC 4 SC
Tugbc
Proba
BY SUSAN USHER
The operator of a tugboat that rammed
the Sunset Beach Bridge in
January received one year's probation
Friday in a Coast Guard sentencing
hearing held Norfolk, Va.
Administrative Law Judge Peter
A. Fitzpatrick cited operator James
Child Abus
Filed Follow
BY TERRY POPE
A Shollcttc couple fass fceen ckurg
ed with felony child abuse following
an early morning fire Sunday that
threatened the lives of three
children.
.taunura ana Aiexanaer ning, 01
N.C. 130 two miles west of Shallotte,
were charged Sunday morning with
felony child sbus? by Bninswlck
County Sheriff's Detective I-indsey
Walton.
According to Chief Detective Phil
Perry, around 4:30 a.m. Sunday
Deputy Carl Pierson and Walton
were called to the home on N.C. 130 to
investigate a fire. When the officers
arrived, the couple was spotted argu
ing in the front yard while smoke was
seen coming from the home, Perry
said.
"The fire in the house had been put
out, but there was real heavy smoke
in the home," Perry said. Fuel had
been poured in the home to start the
fire, he added.
Officers Picrson and Walton went
inside the home and brought two
young children outside. The smoke
was "so thick that Det. Walton said
you couldn't sec inside the house,"
Perry reported.
After bringing two children to safety
outside, Walton heard a third child
crying inside the home, but he
couldn't locate it. Walton then attempted
to break up the argument, to
bues A/MC,
r Accident
medical and other expenses" as well
as damages to his vehicle, it reads.
Cosby has also sustained special
damages due to ongoing medical exnenses
it states The suit is askint
that a jury award $100,OOC ir
damages plus interest.
Cosby is represented by Southpor
attorney Glen Peterson.
Memorial Day
Service Set
On Battleship
Traditional Memorial Dai
ceremonies on board the USS Nortl
Carolina Battleship Memorial will b<
held in Wilmington at 5:45 p.m., Mai
27.
The puhbc is invited.
There will be the customar;
meeting of the Battleship Commis
sion prior to the ceremony. Mille
Pope of Ocean Isle Beach is i
member of the commission.
*is
:ompany.
lumbing
t Isle Beach
years experience
itt with a combinaors
experience.
a plumber?
I: a i
TirsT, you will De
ed!
3 or too small."
579-aaas
>at Operatoi
tionary Seni
R. Kelly Jr.'s "excellent record" as a
pilot in handing down the probationary
sentence.
Two weeks ago Fitzpatrick found
the Virginia Beach, Va., man guilty
of two of three specifications in a
charge of negligent operation filed by
?e Charges
wing Fire
ask the mother wliat room the child
*735 lOCatCu in.
"She then broke loose and went
back inside the house after the
child," Perry said. Along the way,
the child hit the floor for some
unknown reason and Walton went
back inside to get it. Another argument
then erupted between the
pcrents h? ca i?i
"As a result of the house catching
on fire," Perry said, "and the fact
that the children were left in the
house while the parents stood outside
and argued, they have been charged
with felony child abuse."
ywuUtwie
ON THE CAUSEWAY
AT OCEAN 'SEE BEACH
579-6279
Robin:
H variet
! HOLDEN BEACH CAUSEWA
i [TW
t [3 Great Gift for
Fishermen or
oeacn nomeowners:
L^J SETH THOMAS QUARTZ M
Eg Tide-Time I
g Clock 1
irt? a at rtft
I *44
ItFL
HBHHHAiMMfaiBk
i r^"????????
: Our South Brunsi
c
O -s
t "arv .*
J
ii
DAVB
...always
car ;
?rrr
J omA^lL
i EEEES
r Nets |
rence 1
the U.S. Coast Guard.
He sentenced Kelly to a 12-month
probation period. If Kelly violates
any Coast Guard law or has another
accident during that period, it would
result in an "outright suspension," of
his tugboat operator's license for six
months, according to Lt. James
Carter, the Coast Guard marine safety
officer who investigated the Jan.
12 accident.
Kelly was found negligent when the
tugboat Angela m , pushing a 210-foot
barge laden with dredge pipes,
struck the Ocean Isle Beach fender
system. Traveling west in what
witnesses said was an erratic pal
tern, it then struck the Sunset Beach
Bridge. The impact destroyed the
fender and three 17-foot sections of
the bridge and damaged a fourth section.
Residents were without
vehicular access to or from the island
for 4M> days.
Kelly maintained that gusting
winds had pushed the barge?on
which he had posted a lookout?into
the bridge.
Two weeks later, an Army landing
craft unit struck the bridge in approximately
the same location, forcing
a temporary closure for repairs.
*
Many Weil-Known
_ Name Brands
jf fjg| Lamps, piciuieS
and Accessories
jfe&Br Special Ordering
Available
Come in and check out
our low prices.
son's 1
? 9-5 MON.-SAT.
842-6775
'lei
iW
g^'hffwwyB'Hw 2 *-* i
wmwrnimsm '<
SSSffiSs S3
wwa mumr i
"I
wick Islands team
^ ^ 'v
y to serve you!
'S4-4488
!HBL*
nmvmnr|
3UUfc?AwJLiAdLAal W