Friday, December 27, 2019

News 12 at 6 o'clock

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - After another animal attack in Aiken County, a family is calling for action from local leaders.

It's the fourth incident in ten months, where farm animals have been attacked by dogs.

The Owenby family found their donkey, Clyde, bleeding with cuts on his legs and neck on Christmas.

For the community, these incidents are becoming too familiar.

"As I always tell people, there's something in the water," said Robin Mitchell, an animal welfare advocate and owner of Saving the Chain Dogs. "I can't even explain it. I don't know what's going on."

The Owenby family says two dogs left their donkey in bad shape. And a week earlier, the family says the same dogs killed several of their chickens.

Mitchell says there needs to be changes made countywide.

"An ordinance that will prevent these dogs from running loose cause that's the problem," Mitchell said.

In this case, the dogs came from a couple miles away. The owner surrendered them to animal control, according to the Owenby family.

But, stopping these attacks before they happen is complicated.

"You can't come out to property like this and tell people they have to keep their animals fenced in all the time," Mitchell said.

Aiken County Council is looking at giving more power to animal control. Leaders passed a first reading a couple of weeks ago to start changing the county ordinance.

Mitchell says stronger policing of backyard breeding would help.

"It's going to bring you know a bad mind and a bad blood in a dog,"Mitchell said. "It's not healthy."

As wounds heal across the county, many are calling for change to start soon.

"What's going on in Aiken County right now for this to continue is just beyond me," Mitchell said.

Clyde is expected to make a full recovery. The Owenby family also plans to add stall doors at their barn to protect their animals.

Aiken County Council says they'll revisit the animal control ordinance at their first meeting of the year.