Man’s best friend; loyal and obedient. If only their owner’s were as loyal and obedient as they are commanded to be. If only, then there would not be any issues with stray dogs roaming the streets.
If only it were that simple then there really would not be any issues of overcrowded shelters full of unwanted pets. However, is it really that simple?
It is hard to say what the solution is with regards to the amount of animals that are dumped or left unattended. While this is not a new issue, it is a growing issue as the city shelters struggle to keep up with the problem of unwanted animals being dumped.
Within Madill and Kingston city limits, there are animal control officers who are able to pick up any stray animal and find the owner or a new home. Even then the city shelters are limited on what they can do when they reachmaximumcapacityand have to turn animals away.
Outside city limits,. the issues are worse as there are no animal control officers to enforce stray dogs. There are ordinances that address neglect and animal cruelty that are enforced by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, fortunately.
However, in the cases of abandoned dogs or dogs left to run free, there are no ordinances in the county. With the county growing rapidly could this possibly change?
That is hard to say, since the ordinances would have to pass on a state level to be enforced in all counties across the state of Oklahoma. Then, once it gets to that level how does that look for the rest of the state?
Ordinances are great, but it is difficult to enforce them outside of city limits. How does a law enforcement agency enforce something in an area where people live because there are less restrictions than being in city limits?