Newspaper Page Text
gfre Aiiuancg
The ADVANCE, September 27, 2023/Page 8A
Area Agencies Focus on Animal Law
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
Over 30 law enforce
ment members from
Montgomery and Laurens
Counties attended an ani
mal law training seminar
on Wednesday Septem
ber 20, in Mount Vernon
to learn about handling
animal cruelty cases and
more.
Lucky Dog Rescue
Ranch, which is located
in Uvalda, and The Res
cue Ranch, which is lo
cated in McRae-Helena,
sponsored the seminar, as
the rescue organizations’
founders deal on a daily
basis with the struggles
surrounding the lack of
animal law knowledge.
Lucky Dog Res
cue Ranch founder Julie
Driscoll shared, “I have
been involved in rescue
for about five years now,
and I started my own non
profit rescue organization
around April or May of
this year. It’s really coming
to light how much worse
the situations are getting
with dogs being aban
doned, discarded, abused,
and neglected. We are
dealing a lot with unwant
ed litters and the problem
of [animals] needing to be
spayed and neutered.”
Driscoll added, “I met
with Barbara at The Res
cue Ranch about these
issues, and we discussed
having an animal law en
forcement training. I’ve
also been in touch with
sheriffs and police about
local issues, and [my]
needing the law to know
what the laws are so they
can back us and enforce
those laws.”
The Rescue Ranch
founder Barbara Bruigom
noted, “Teaching law en
forcement officers what
needs to be done in regard
to animal protection not
only protects the people
in the community, but
it protects the animals.
Where you have things
like dog fighting, or you
have dangerous dogs, or
you have dogs at large,
and something gets killed,
something gets injured,
something happens - it’s
an accident waiting to
happen.”
She continued, “A lack
of knowledge of the law
is absolutely a challenge
in the rural areas. Assis
tant District Attorneys
and District Attorneys are
overloaded; law enforce
ment is overloaded; most
of the rural areas don’t
have animal controls, they
don’t have shelters - or if
they do, they usually have
a 10-kennel shelter that
has no space for people
who own pets and are
passing away at a rapid
rate.
“Most of the animals
that we have had to deal
with in the last several
months have come from
situations where some
body has died, or some
body has dementia, and
the kids don’t want their
dogs. Their families and
cousins don’t want their
dogs - or maybe, they
have no family. So, people
have to learn to make pro
visions for their animals,
and the only way things
like that are going to hap
pen is with ordinances
put in place by city and
county officials. These of
ficials need the education,
and so do the people who
prosecute the cases - they
all need to know how to
^InThe&ff
jwtoe Ranch
Id 'VLDTdo
^ne+McCaUVa^
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
GRATEFUL NONPROFITS - Both Lucky Dog Rescue Ranch and The Rescue Ranch are
nonprofit organizations created to help protect animals in the area. Founders Julie
Driscoll (right) and Barbara Bruigom (left) were grateful to the businesses and individu
als that sponsored an area animal law training seminar on Wednesday, September 20.
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
ANIMAL LAW EXPERT - Widely-known training instruc
tor Claudine Wilkins is an expert in animal law, having
worked in the field for over 30 years. She spoke local
ly about the importance of building animal law cases
through evidence and precise detail when responding
to instances involving animals,
deal with these situations
to keep themselves and
their communities safe.”
Bruigom added, “I
wish more city officials
would come to these train
ing programs. I’m talking
to animal control agents
who haven’t even had ra
bies vaccinations for them
selves, and yet, they’re
dealing with dangerous
dog cases.They don’t know
how bad something like
rabies is. They don’t know
how lethal it is. Everybody
learns, and everybody
benefits (from education),
but the ultimate benefit is
for the entire community.”
During the seminar,
attendees heard from
speakers representing
both the Georgia Depart
ment of Agriculture and
Georgia Department of
Public Health’s Rabies
Specialists, along with ani
mal law expert and found
er of Animal Law Source
Claudine Wilkins.
“For Claudine
Wilkins, who is such a sig
nificant person in animal
law and welfare, to come
to the little rural county
of Montgomery and do a
training session is huge. I
am hoping the impact of
this will be that local po
lice and sheriffs will reach
out for the resources that
Claudine has provided -
to ask questions, to know
where to go, to know
what’s right and what they
should be doing,” Driscoll
remarked.
Wilkins spoke on a va
riety of topics surrounding
animal law, such as the im
portance of photographic
evidence and contributing
factors in dog bite cases,
and the need for officers
to be thorough and pre
cise when building animal
cruelty or dog bite cases.
She emphasized that 28
counties in the state have
no animal control or ordi
nances regarding animals;
this issue of safety “sits on
the shoulders of police.”
She informed attend
ees of tools when docu
menting incidents, such
as the Ian Dunbar scale,
which assesses the sever
ity of a dog bite wound.
Wilkins also told the
group that state law man
dates that a person in the
county must be designat
ed to handle rabies, and
that a dog control officer
must also be designated
to respond to incidents.
She said these designa-
Georgia DOE Celebrates Literacy
Excellence at Toombs Central
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
Toombs Central El
ementary School is one of
155 schools in the state to
be honored by the Georgia
Department of Education
(GaDOE) for literacy ex
cellence.
Knowing the funda
mental importance of early
literacy and students’ abil
ity to read proficiently by
third grade, the Georgia
Department of Education
is recognizing schools with
exceptional achievement
or growth in third grade
reading as 2022-2023 Lit
eracy Leaders.
The Toombs County
School System is excited
to announce that Toombs
Central Elementary School
has been named a Literacy
Leader by the Georgia De
partment of Education.
Toombs Central Elemen
tary earned this recogni
tion by showing a 15% or
higher increase in third
grade reading scores from
2021-22 to 2022-23.
Literacy Leader quali
fications use the Georgia
Milestones Reading Status
indicator which is based
on the Lexile score. This
measures reading ability
associated with students 1
performance on a subset
of questions on the English
Language Arts (ELA) as
sessment.
“We are very proud
and certainly glad to have
these efforts recognized
at the state level,” Toombs
Central Elementary School
Principal Destiny Levant
remarked. “Our teachers
and staff work extreme
ly hard to ensure that stu
dents are receiving a qual
ity education, and we are
consistently refining our
practices to best meet stu
dents’ needs.”
She continued, “On
the Georgia Milestones
end-of-grade assessment
that our third through fifth
grade students are given at
the end of each year, 82% of
these students were read
ing at or above grade level.
In third grade alone, we saw
an increase from 63% in
2022 to 83% in 2023. This
is in part due to literacy be
ing the responsibility of all
teachers, not just those that
teach reading.
“Students are being
exposed to grade level or
higher texts daily and con
sistently across all subject
areas. The more they are
exposed, the greater their
chances for coping with the
complexity and vocabulary
of those texts on the end-
of-grade assessment.”
Levant said that the
school’s vision statement
this year is “We Shine
Brighter Together,” which
is an image of that principle
at work. “This accolade is
a true testament of that
statement. It takes a collec
tive effort, and I am so ap
preciative of our students,
teachers/staff, parents, and
district office personnel for
their support in helping us
shine!”
tions may be assigned to
one person who works in
multiple counties, but this
person has to be desig
nated by local law enforce
ment.
“In the three decades
that I’ve been at this, my
experience has been that
there is a huge lack of
training for the very peo
ple that need it in animal
cases, which run from ani
mal crimes [like] animal
cruelty, to animal fight
ing, to dangerous dogs,
to police encounters with
dogs and how to handle
cases and work them up,”
Wilkins remarked. “There
is a huge lack of training,
and there is definitely a
connection between ani
mal cruelty and human
violence. In fact, there is a
direct correlation between
human trafficking and ani
mal cruelty.”
She continued, “The
lack of training is astound
ing, and really, if you come
at it from a police officer
and animal control safety
aspect, you’ll be surprised
to see what they learn in
these courses, because
they don’t realize some
times that what they’re
doing could be dangerous
to them.”
Wilkins emphasized
the need for extensive
training in animal law, as
the animals are depen
dent on others to protect
them. “There are only so
many victims that can’t [or
won’t] speak - children,
the elderly, the handi
capped, domestic violence
victims - but an animal is
the one victim that really
cannot speak at all, so we
have to be able to put the
pieces together to find out
what’s happened and to
protect them and get them
out of a bad situation.”
According to Wilkins,
there is a big difference
in the type of animal law
cases seen in the rural
and urban areas. “There is
a difference in mentality
of how we treat animals,
as well,” she explained.
“Right now, animals are
considered property in
the state of Georgia and
in many other states. But
what I see in rural parts
of Georgia is a disconnect
between all the types of
agencies. I see a lot more
strays, I see a lot more
lack of spay and neuter
options, I see a lot more
dog bites, [and] I see a
lot more cruelty. A lot of
people will collect ani
mals over time while try
ing to be good and help,
but before they know it,
they’re overwhelmed with
too many animals, and the
animals end up suffering.”
Ultimately, Wilkins
said that she hopes that
the training will become
standard for all veterinar
ians, law enforcement of
ficers, and judicial system
workers so that all may
know the law regarding
animals to efficiently en
force regulations and pro
tect the creatures. She in
vited all of those who are
interested to join her for
the 24th Annual Animal
Protection Society Expo,
which will feature two
days of classes with over
30 speakers in Alpharetta
on October 20-21.
Law enforcement of
ficers that attend the full
course and stay from 9
a.m. until 3 p.m. receive
P.O.S.T. training credit
hours toward their an
nual training hour require
ment. Both Bruigom and
Driscoll shared that they
hope to continue work
ing to educate the public
about animal laws, as well
as work with several veter
inary offices to offer cost-
reduced spay and neuter
ing options in the future.
Crossword Puzzle
Solution, page 14A
CLUES ACROSS
1. Outsourcing (abbr.)
4. Post
8. German city on edge of Black
Forest
10. “ , but goodie”
11. Spiced stew
12. Passionately
13. Monetary units
15. Group of living organisms
16. Organic compound derived
from ammonia
17. High honors
18. 5-year-olds’ classes
21. Swiss river
22. Old woman
CLUES DOWN
1. Native of Slovakia
2. Deli meat
3. Fibrous substance in fungi
4. Cutting
5. Vedder and Van Halen
6. Horror comic novelist
7. Rulers of Tunis
9. Shaped like a circle
10. Make a pig of oneself
12. Aphorism
14. Witness
15. Single Lens Reflex
17. Freshwater North American fish
19. Nautical ropes
23. Cash machine
24. A way to soak
25. Hair product
26. Deride
27. “The Blonde Bombshell”
34. Cause to become insane
35. Bluish greens
36. Supported with money
37. Type of equation
38. Court officials
39. Indian god
40. Rids
41. Leak slowly through
42. Units of ionizing radiation
43. Midway between south and southeast
20. Leg (slang)
23. Pokes holes in
24. Moved quickly on foot
25. Fix-it shops
26. Type of bread
27. Repaired
28. Synthetic diamond (abbr.)
29. Type of drug (abbr.)
30. German city along the Rhine
31. Animal disease
32. Martini necessities
33. Get away from
34. Village in Mali
36. Djibouti franc