Atlanta

Animal services in Atlanta cut off at 5 p.m. after failure to reach deal with Fulton Co.

By Sam Sachs, WSBTV.com
By Sam Sachs, WSBTV.com

ATLANTA — All animal services now will be the responsibility of the city of Atlanta.

Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts announced Friday afternoon that as of 5 p.m., the county will no longer provide animal control services for the city of Atlanta.

Pitts said Fulton County provided animal services to the city for more than three months in good faith.

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As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, part of the issue is the cost of renewing the contract. Atlanta’s portion of the bill, according to officials, would rise from $2.5 million to $6.5 million.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed by Pitts that Atlanta was the only city in Fulton County not to sign the new contract.

The city has held off on signing a new agreement with Fulton County Animal Services because of rising rates.

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According to the Atlanta Mayor’s Office, in a statement shared with Channel 2′s Michael Doudna, Fulton County leaders “reneged on a tentative agreement reached yesterday (and confirmed this morning) to provide animal control services to Atlanta.”

Additionally, the statement alleges that the county’s “about-face” is related to comments by Mayor Andre Dickens regarding the recent death of an inmate at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday night.

“The City understands that the sudden about-face by the County may be due to a statement by Mayor Dickens in response to a question concerning the recent death of the twelfth inmate to lose their life in the Fulton County Jail. Refusing to honor an agreement based on this statement reeks of political maneuvering and jeopardizes the overall safety of our residents. It’s disheartening that this decision was made after allocating $40 million to a new animal shelter and ignoring calls from the sheriff, human rights organizations, and Clergy to address the continual humanitarian crisis at the county jail,” the statement continues.

The mayor’s office also said the City of Atlanta is owed $5.7 million by Fulton County for unpaid water bills.

“The city understands the impact of suspending service on citizens and jail inmates. We would not risk endangering the welfare of people or animals while negotiating in good faith to resolve these issues. We expect the same professionalism and care for our citizens and animals from the county,” the city said.

In the meantime, the city said it is identifying emergency services to care of animals humanely and when help is needed, Atlanta residents can call 311 until the matter is resolved.

Fulton County confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that the city did provide them with a letter of intent, but that it did not include payment for more than three months of animal control services.

As a result, the county said the city was asked to provide a corrected letter of intent to them by 11 a.m., which Fulton officials said did not happen.

Instead, Fulton officials told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna that “the City said that they would send the updated agreement when the Mayor returned to Atlanta ‘on Tuesday or Wednesday.’ They also changed the timeframe for providing a final agreement – stating that this update would require the matter to go through the Atlanta City Council’s committee process, extending the matter to May 6, rather than April 15 when promised yesterday.”

Fulton County said that they’ve been discussing the issue over animal control services with the City of Atlanta for six months and “there has been ample opportunity” to find a compromise.

Rather than do so, Fulton officials allege that “each and every deadline provided to the city has been ignored, despite ongoing efforts to reach an agreement.”

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