BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
Bradford County commissioners approved changes to the fines and fees charged by animal control.
Corp. Glen Ward, who is in charge of county code enforcement, said the fees are based on what other counties charge, but remain lower because Bradford is smaller.
Ward also said the fines aren’t meant to punish people. They are meant to recoup the county’s losses when animal control problems aren’t addressed. The fines encourage compliance.
“We go out there with warnings. We like to give them every opportunity to go along with what we need done,” Ward said, listing dogs roaming free as one of the primary issues. “When we’ve got to go out there two, three, four, five times, that’s draining resources.”
Ward said there are some services the county has been giving away for free.
In addition to an impoundment fee of $35 plus $5 a day to reclaim an impounded animal, and the $60 rabies quarantine charge, there are fines for not cleaning up animal waste in public areas and a schedule of fees when the county has to impound livestock. Impoundment fees are doubled if the same animal in is impounded more than once in a 12-month period.
Animal owners may also be issued citations from $50 for a first offense to $150 for the third offense. Ultimately, failure to comply could result in a civil infraction of $500.
Codes obviously address animal cruelty. They also address nuisance animals, which can cause annoyance, damage property or pose a threat to public safety, as well as vicious and dangerous dogs.
The public may not be aware that animals are not allowed to roam at large — with the exception of livestock and hunting dogs within a designated hunting area. Animals must be restrained by a leash or lead under the control of a responsible person or within the boundaries of the owners property. Animals cannot, however, be tethered outside without the supervision of the owner.
Animals must have access to adequate food, water, shelter and space. Female dogs or cats in heat must be secured in a building or secure enclosure away from other animals except in cases of planned breeding.
Investigations into animal cruelty complaints, nuisance compliance or vicious animal complaints could result in an investigation fee of $200.
More on camper life
Sheriff Gordon Smith was asked again to address problems with residents living in travel trailers, campers and recreational vehicles.
Smith said every case is different, and that is how code enforcement approaches this issue. Until the county adopted an ordinance years ago allowing someone to live in a travel trailer for up to a year, it was completely prohibited. Now it is allowed provided the landowner is building a home.
Zoning Director Randy Andrews added his office must have building plans on file and the landowner must pay a fee to receive the temporary permit. There must also be proper connection to a power pole as well as a well and septic tank.
Smith said there have been some dangerous examples of people connecting to power at a home on the property or a neighboring property, and then renting out the space. Or, they’re dumping raw sewage in the yard.
Reacting to the number of such incidents, Smith said they backed up the exception to six months with extensions in hardship cases like recovering from a housefire or if someone is staying there to care for an elderly relative. Without a hardship, there must be ongoing construction of permanent housing to receive an extension.
Smith said, “It becomes difficult when you have somebody that moves into a residential area, puts up a camper and says, ‘Oh, I’m going to build a house,’ but then five years later doesn’t build a house. Or, you’ve got the one that’s living in a camper trailer that the floor’s falling in on — they call it living quarters — the wires running across two yards. … I’m not making that up. We deal with those issues.”
Even hardship extension must end at some point. Campers, travel trailers and RVs cannot be permanent residences.
“We try to work with individuals, but you got some people that it’s not safe. It’s not habitable. It’s encroaching on the other neighbors. They’re not disposing of their waste. They’re not getting utilities like everybody else has to do. We have to judge the totality of the circumstances,” Smith said.
