Animal control calls this month have been non-stop to the Stephens County Marshal's Office, said chief marshal Tony Addison.
Animal control was switched from under the auspices of the Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter to the marshal's office after an agreement between the City of Toccoa and Stephens County government late last year.
"Last week, we spent four days straight answering (animal control) calls," Addison said.
The county has expanded the marshal's office to three people with Addison as chief marshal.
County administrator Phyllis Ayers said new marshals Joe Smith started on Jan. 11, and Rik Wise began the job Feb. 8.
"We hired an extra marshal, but the duties are shared so that one person is not on call 24/7, 52 weeks a year," Ayers said.
"This was one of the major complaints from (former animal control officer) Dave (Schwartzkopf) at the shelter that he never had any time off," Ayers said.
Ayers said that the city, as per the agreement, is sharing a portion of the cost of hiring the additional marshal.
Addison said that for animal control incidents, callers notify the county communications office at 706-779-3911 for non emergencies or 9-1-1 in emergency cases and a marshal is dispatched to the location.
All three marshals work animal control calls.
"We're doing the law enforcement part of it," Addison said, adding that the calls are about evenly split between the city and county.
On Thursday, county commissioners discussed a letter that was received from a resident recommending some guidelines for the county to adopt related to animal control.
While the city has a leash law, there are no such policies outside of the city.
The letter contained some recommendations for a county ordinance such as a minimum square footage for domestic animals kept in a cage.
The board, however, balked at animal control in more rural areas.
"If it's not easily enforceable, I just don't see making a change," said county commissioner Dean Scarborough.
While agreeing with Scarborough, commissioners also agreed that pets should be taken care of and provided food and water.
"We just need a good animal control officer," said Scarborough.
Ayers said that animals without food and water are considered an abandoned animal.
The board also discussed the ongoing transition of animal control out from under the shelter, giving a four-month period for that transition.
The transition likely also will affect the humane shelter's budget.
Animal shelter director Jeff Roberts said Tuesday in a telephone interview he has met with marshals at a transition meeting.
"It's early in the game," Roberts said.
Roberts said that are items such as areas of responsibility that need to be clarified.
"There's some things that will take some time to work through," Robert said.
Also at Thursday's meeting, Ayers said that the City of Martin is partnering with the county to provide animal control there.