Our Pine Lake Stray Dog Committee will be holding our first fundraiser during the PLAIN city-wide yard sale on Sat., May 7 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. We will be located in the Club House parking lot. All proceeds will fund equipment for our police officers so that they can respond to urgent calls while waiting for county animal control to arrive. Our short-term goal is to raise $850 to pay for two catchpoles and two traps that will belong to the city. In our discussions with animal control officers from multiple counties, it is clear that this equipment is considered the baseline. We plan to raise funds for one or two pieces of additional equipment, including humane, longer-range devices, in the near future.
If you have items you‚d like to sell but don‚t feel like setting up your own booth, we are currently seeking furniture/other donations in good condition to sell at the fundraiser. We are also seeking a volunteer with a truck who might be able to assist in transporting larger donations to the Club house
parking lot. If anyone is interested in wedding/event planning items, I will be selling a large stash of décor, serving pieces, etc. at the committee‚s booth. We also will be accepting cash donations and we will have treats (for both human and canine) for sale.
To recap, we have been working in cooperation with the Pine Lake Police Department since August to come up with effective solutions to the roaming stray dog issue in our neighborhood. Some of these animals have exhibited aggression, including repeated incidents last summer and earlier this year of stray animals attacking cats and growling at residents. We feel that it is important for our Police to be able to serve as first responders to contain potentially dangerous animals until Animal Control has a chance to arrive. One Pine Lake Police Sgt. received free training in October through Cobb County Animal Control and he has shared his knowledge with several core members of the department.
In the near future, our committee and Chief Green will be putting in place a three-step procedure for residents making animal control calls to help speed the response time and increase our ability to track the calls. Summer is a popular time for stray animals, because people relocate and leave their pets behind. We will also be promoting responsible pet ownership. We welcome the community‚s participation in these efforts.