Atlanta's Animal Control Services Debate Turns Contentious at Fulton County Meeting

Tensions flared at the Fulton County Commission meeting when proposals about resuming animal control services in Atlanta, hit a standstill. Municipal leaders clashed as the City of Atlanta continues to cope without an agreement for these services since the county halted them last week.

Commissioner Marvin Arrington, Jr., fired up the debate by pushing to reboot services sans a concrete deal, saying, “I just pray no one gets hurt. I just pray no one dies. Right is right and wrong is wrong. But life is life. Life is life and this isn’t about right and wrong. This is about saving lives. We operated without one from January to now. So what’s the problem with giving them time to have another council meeting?” Arrington's passionate plea underscored the high stakes of the discussion but not all commissioners were on board. Things turned ugly when Arrington snapped at Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman and the chamber erupted into a shouting match.

Earlier, Abdur-Rahman had stressed, the City of Atlanta's failure to solidify an agreement, which put them behind the curve compared to other Fulton County cities. “We cannot go back and go cut a deal, so to speak, because somebody didn’t meet self-employed, self-imposed deadlines and we send the wrong message to the other 14 cities and we send the extremely wrong message to the Fulton County taxpayers.” Abdur-Rahman argued. The dispute raises questions about equality and fiscal responsibility toward county taxpayers.

Legal and liability issues were also flagged by some commissioners, challenging the feasibility of delivering animal control services without a formal agreement in place. In the end, the commissioners voted 4-to-3 against the proposal set forth by Arrington. Aligning with Chairman Robb Pitts and Commissioner Natalie Hall whileCommissioners Bridget Thorne, Bob Ellis, Dana Barrett, and Abdur-Rahman cast the dissenting votes.

Fulton Commissioner Dana Barrett, in an interview with WABE News before the meeting, addressed cost concerns tied to new shelter operations. “We are not charging any of the cities for the cost to build the new facility. We are just charging the operational cost but it is a bigger facility. So it has more fixed costs for maintenance, air conditioning, heat those kinds of things. It holds more animals so it requires more staff. And we’re also getting a lot more calls to come pick up dogs.” Barrett clarified. She also noted that more than half the calls for animal control come from within Atlanta's city limits.

The City of Atlanta, for its part, accused Fulton County of backing out of a preliminary accord regarding animal control services. The earliest the City Council can deliberate on an intergovernmental agreement is Monday. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Police Department is handling animal control calls amidst a pall of political skirmishing which also involves unrelated issues like comments on the county jail and purported unpaid water bills.