Toccoa Updates Animal Codes

Toccoa is updating its animal codes.

On Monday, city commissioners unanimously adopted proposed changes to the city’s animal control ordinance following a second reading of the proposed changes.

According to city officials, one of the changes states that a pet dealer could not be on any property in the city but their own without the written permission of the property owner.

City officials stated the new language would further require that pet dealer, if they were on someone’s else property in the city with permission, to have both a city business license and a license from the state Department of Agriculture.

Other changes include bringing city code regarding rabies vaccination requirements in line with state law by including cats and not just dogs in the language and broadening the definition of a nuisance animal.

The changes were recommended by the Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter Board.

Toccoa City Commissioner Jeanette Jamieson is on that board.

“The changes we are making actually get us in line with the state code on everything except the part where it stipulates how you go about selling animals and the conditions of the sale and the property on which they can be sold,” said Jamieson. “We are doing that as a result of so many complaints that we had about the animals being sold in the middle of the hottest weather we have had lately at Wal-Mart.”

Toccoa resident Herb Masten asked the commissioners about the ordinance before the vote.

He said that he has had issues in the past, though not really recently, with animals running free in his neighborhood and wants to know what can be done through the ordinance.

“I was curious as to how much teeth we have in our leash law ordinance,” said Masten.

Jamieson said she feels that the ordinance could handle the situations he spoke of, especially in light of the changes that commissioners approved Monday.