In a letter to the editor appearing in the 24 August issue of the Bulletin, Jen-ai Bounds wrote about a “beloved Saluda town dog, Jenny,” whose “. . . family didn’t want to cage or tie her.” I’m sure Jenny was a lovable mutt, but her owners had no right to let her roam.  There’s an animal control ordinance in Polk County that stipulates:

Every person owning or having possession, charge, care, custody or control of any animal shall keep such animal exclusively upon the owner’s premises.  However, such animal may be off such premises if it is under the control of a person competent to handle and control the animal and restrained by a chain, leash, harness or other means of control.  Dogs do not have to be under physical restraint while off the owner’s premises if the dog is under the person’s direct control and is obedient to that person’s commands. 

There are good reasons for the ordinance – among them the numbers of loose dogs injured or killed in collisions with motor vehicles – but many dog owners, seemingly oblivious to the rights of other citizens, either ignore the ordinance or remain blissfully unaware of its existence.

Glenn Brady, Mill Spring, N.C.