SHOW US LIVE DOGS

I want to begin this letter by stating that I, and many of my animal-loving friends, greatly appreciate the "Adopt Me" section in the Flagpole. This week I saw a dog that I thought would make an excellent addition to my family. So on Friday morning, I went to the ACC Animal Control website to see how I could go about adopting this pup that was featured in the current Flagpole. Much to my dismay, underneath the puppy's photo, it read "no longer available" (which is a euphemism for "dead"). I understand that the caption reads "dogs pictured do not have much time," but can't you guys work together to make sure that the pups in your paper are still alive by presstime? Sure, the pounds are overcrowded, thanks to negligent owners, but give the ones who care a break, and show us some pups that are actually available for adoption by the time Flagpole is at the newsstands!

Liz Cherry and her lonely dog Bullitt

Athens

Cindy Jerrell, who puts together Adopt Me, responds:

I'm really sorry to hear about Liz Cherry's experience. I have a feeling it is true because I had noticed that two of the dogs went down on Wednesday or Thursday and I was very disappointed as well. One issue this month is that [ACC Animal Control is] understaffed and not open on Saturdays (when I usually do the photographs - so I've been going on Fridays). I knew this might be a problem, since it puts even another day between when I take the photos and our publication date and that is why I have done cats twice this month - because time is less of a critical issue at the Humane/Cat Shelter.

ACC Animal Control only has to hold dogs for five days (legally) or no days if they are owner surrender. I try to stay away from owner surrenders because it's risky, but a lot of good dogs ARE owner surrenders - people moving away, people that never should have had a dog in the first place, etc. I also try to look only at the dogs that have arrived in the past couple of days, ignoring the poor dogs that came in before then. Sometimes I take a risk and feature a great dog that may not have much time at all.

Animal Control does know which dogs we are featuring in Adopt Me (I fax them on Sunday or Monday) and I do think they try to give those dogs every chance. Sometimes however, if the kennels are full, and they have been most of the summer, they have to open a kennel for a new dog, by euthanizing a dog that can be legally put down. Also, if a dog develops kennel cough, it is put down to prevent other dogs from catching the cough. I don't know what happened specifically to the dog Ms. Cherry is referring to. I will let Animal Control know about Liz Cherry's experience, and see if they have any suggestions for me.

SENSIBLE & FAIR

As the August 5 commission vote on the new rental registration ordinance draws near, I'd like to make a few points about the ordinance and the ways in which we can compromise to make it fair to everyone.

First, Athens is a community that claims to want smart growth and less sprawl. If this is the case, decreasing the number of people who live intown is not the way to achieve this goal. Less people intown = more people who must live further out = more people who will drive to work, to shop, to school = more SPRAWL.

Secondly, enforcing the definition of family as no more than two unrelated people will lead to a marked decrease in the amount of affordable housing in Athens. Should decreasing affordable housing be the goal of a town known for being the most progressive in the Southeast? Our commissioners - and we, as their constituents - need to reexamine the definition of family and consider changing it to three unrelated, or one adult per bedroom. Or perhaps we could base the number of people allowed to live in a house on the square footage of the house, as some communities do.

Finally, the ordinance being considered calls for all renters and landlords to sign a "declaration of compliance," stating the names and relationships of all who reside in the house. The penalty for making a false statement on the form is a fine of up to $1000 and/or a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years in prison. In no way is this a reasonable punishment. Let's call our commissioners, write Mayor Davison, and make our voices heard.

We all want better neighborhoods, smart growth, and affordable housing for all. Let's achieve these goals in a sensible and fair way.

Megan Hesse

Athens

GET A GRIP

Pete, puleeze stop being such a bleeding heart about the so-called musicians and artists and what rental registration will do to them. It is all about CHOICE. They make the choice as to whether or not they work regular jobs with benefits and regular incomes or they pretend they have this GREAT unusual talent and when they are discovered they will be on their way to bigger and better life styles. Chances of being discovered are almost nil and when they are and make some big bucks they will be worried about their quality of life issues as much as anyone. Get a grip and look at the real world!!!

Liz Edmonston

Athens

ENFORCE THE LAW

I've been watching this whole argument from the beginning with this proposed rental registration, I've laid-back and had opinions that other people have suggested much more eloquently than I could. There is only one thing that amazes me that no one has brought up that I remember reading in this publication a year or so ago. It was mentioned that in the period from, correct me if I'm wrong, 1999 till 2002 there were over 15,000 incidents of ordinance violations. Out of those 15,000 only 350 or so were issued citations for such actions. It is painfully obvious to me that the only problem with this proposal is that it was never enforced to begin with. It should be a zero-tolerance ordinance. That is fine with me. They at least won't be coming to my house, because I know how to respect my neighbors. It would also make it easier on the entire community to reduce single family to three unrelated. Why is that completely obvious to everyone except the people we voted for to help US run OUR community. Before a tenant signs a lease, they should be handed the list of county ordinances. That way it is no one's fault except for the person in violation. No needless targeting of tenants that are homosexual, low income, post school, artists, musicians or anyone else that just wants to live here and enjoy our wonderfully creative community that we are known worldwide for. Let's not destroy what we have worked so hard to set apart from the rest of the bland world. Let's set the rules to target the ones who are at fault. Write the fucking ticket when you get called to their house at two in the morning instead of the warning. These people will get tired of paying it sooner or later, and maybe we could train these monkeys after all. Just my opinion that will go unnoticed, because like you said, "Our commission has made up their minds behind closed doors long ago."

Count Kellam

Athens

UNFAIR TO RENTERS

I rarely write letters such as this, but all this ongoing discussion about HOW MANY people may live in a house in Clarke County seems like a waste of breath. Why should renters be regulated any differently from homeowners? Why have we, the people of Clarke County (or the people we elected) created two separate and distinct classes of people living in Athens. Don't talk about numbers of renting people who are permitted to live in a house, but talk about why one group is being regulated and another (the homeowners) are not being subject to the same rules. As I understand it, I can live in a one bedroom house in a single family zoned area with my wife and as many of our own (or adopted) children as we choose to have, say an even dozen of us, or more if Grandpa and Grandma decide to move in with us? But, were we unrelated RENTERS, only two of us could live in the same space. Where's the logic in that, much less the constitutionality?

Now, back to your numbers game. If you want to discuss how many individuals should be permitted to live in a house, why do you not suggest that the unreasonable regulation peg the number of occupants to the number of bedrooms. Can't a five or six bedroom house obviously support more occupants than a single bedroom home could?

The crux of this all is that, as usual, the landed gentry (the homeOWNERS) are getting the fairer shake.

Whatever happened to simple laws that guaranteed everyone "quiet enjoyment" of their property, owned or rented.

Rick Hawkins

Athens