Contrary to what the board of commissioners would lead us to believe, the Animal Cruelty Investigator Team (ACI) is one of the most, if not the most, transparent group in Polk County. They work with FERA/Foothills Humane Society, animal control officer, county sheriff, county manager and the courts. Do you think for one second that if there was a red flag in their performance that it wouldn’t be addressed immediately? The BOC never asked the ACI for a report of their activities. Now that they have, the report was prepared quickly and submitted to the county manager.

The ACIs do comply with Article 4, General Statues 19A, Animal Cruelty Investigators, which includes: Six hours of yearly training; take the oath of office required by public officials; have an animal cruelty society affiliation; wear badges at no cost to the county and report the results of court ordered animal seizures to the court.

The BOC did add a new member in August. The ACI team is allocated up to nine members, so with the addition of the new member that would make seven, leaving room for two additional new members that Mr. Gage wanted. So why remove two experienced, dedicated investigators, leaving the team short?

The campaign ad, really! Campaign season is a period where candidates try to persuade voters to vote for them. The words in the ad were “standard issue” used by all parties. In fact, during the 2014 campaign, in an interview with the Tryon Daily Bulletin, Republican candidate, Shane Bradley, said, “Politics should be left outside of the chamber doors and items should be based on what is in the best interest for all of Polk County and it residents not just a certain political party.”

Commissioners Pack, Holbert and Gage, it would be in the best interest of the citizens of Polk County and the defenseless animals that are abused, for you to abide by your colleague’s statement and “walk back” your decision. Reappoint the two experienced animal cruelty investigators, Patti Lovelace and Nancy Hasselbring.

Joanne Leen
Tryon, N.C.