Pet RFID Scanning in Fountain Inn (Greenville: house, neighborhood, contractor)

[USNRET04]

This past Friday, my mother in law's dog got loose from her backyard after the lawn fertilizer company left the gate propped open after he left. She didn't realize it for a while and after a search of the neighborhood found out that a neighbor had taken the dog to the Fountain Inn Public Works.

We called PW just before 5. They had the pooch but since they were closing, she would have to pick the dog up Friday morning. And bring your checkbook because it was $85 plus a $10 overnight fee!

The dog had an current RFID tag in his neck, but no tag on collar. The purpose of the RFID tag is for police/animal shelters to contact the owners of a lost pet. I don't know if FI has one of the scanners or not, if they did, they didn't use it. If they don't these scanners only cost $300-400 so not too expensive.

I don't understand the fees though. That is a lot of money since the dog was brought to the facility by a neighbor. My MIL is on a fixed income, so this hurts financially. We contacted the fertilizer company and they agreed to reimburse her, so we'll see if that happens.

Also on that overnight fee..the dog was kept outside in a fenced in area. Had a "half barrel" for shelter. This is an "indoor" dog.

I would like to contact someone at FI, possibly the city administrator to complain? Any suggestions?

[UpstateJohn]

Originally Posted by USNRET04

This past Friday, my mother in law's dog got loose from her backyard after the lawn fertilizer company left the gate propped open after he left. She didn't realize it for a while and after a search of the neighborhood found out that a neighbor had taken the dog to the Fountain Inn Public Works.

We called PW just before 5. They had the pooch but since they were closing, she would have to pick the dog up Friday morning. And bring your checkbook because it was $85 plus a $10 overnight fee!

The dog had an current RFID tag in his neck, but no tag on collar. The purpose of the RFID tag is for police/animal shelters to contact the owners of a lost pet. I don't know if FI has one of the scanners or not, if they did, they didn't use it. If they don't these scanners only cost $300-400 so not too expensive.

I don't understand the fees though. That is a lot of money since the dog was brought to the facility by a neighbor. My MIL is on a fixed income, so this hurts financially. We contacted the fertilizer company and they agreed to reimburse her, so we'll see if that happens.

Also on that overnight fee..the dog was kept outside in a fenced in area. Had a "half barrel" for shelter. This is an "indoor" dog.

I would like to contact someone at FI, possibly the city administrator to complain? Any suggestions?

Roger Case is the man you need to talk to.

https://www.fountaininn.org/public-works.html

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by UpstateJohn

Roger Case is the man you need to talk to.

https://www.fountaininn.org/public-works.html

Thanks, I will give him a call and also ask why in the world the reclaim fee is so high. I've looked at reclaim fees at cities across the US and FI is one of the highest. Most are around $30, many are zero if it's the first time (which it was).

[mcatp]

Originally Posted by USNRET04

This past Friday, my mother in law's dog got loose from her backyard after the lawn fertilizer company left the gate propped open after he left. She didn't realize it for a while and after a search of the neighborhood found out that a neighbor had taken the dog to the Fountain Inn Public Works.

We called PW just before 5. They had the pooch but since they were closing, she would have to pick the dog up Friday morning. And bring your checkbook because it was $85 plus a $10 overnight fee!

The dog had an current RFID tag in his neck, but no tag on collar. The purpose of the RFID tag is for police/animal shelters to contact the owners of a lost pet. I don't know if FI has one of the scanners or not, if they did, they didn't use it. If they don't these scanners only cost $300-400 so not too expensive.

I don't understand the fees though. That is a lot of money since the dog was brought to the facility by a neighbor. My MIL is on a fixed income, so this hurts financially. We contacted the fertilizer company and they agreed to reimburse her, so we'll see if that happens.

Also on that overnight fee..the dog was kept outside in a fenced in area. Had a "half barrel" for shelter. This is an "indoor" dog.

I would like to contact someone at FI, possibly the city administrator to complain? Any suggestions?

For Greenville County a rabies tag has to be affixed to a collar or harness at all times for the animal and if found and picked up without one the owner can be fined $50 and the boarding fee for a first offense is $85. Seems like she got a deal compared to if the animal went directly to Animal Care.

[emilybh]

Originally Posted by mcatp

For Greenville County a rabies tag has to be affixed to a collar or harness at all times for the animal and if found and picked up without one the owner can be fined $50 and the boarding fee for a first offense is $85. Seems like she got a deal compared to if the animal went directly to Animal Care.

What a rip off. What about just returning the dog to it's owner without charging them anything? I would write a letter to the paper and complain. I would also call talk radio stations and tell everyone and I would work on getting other pet owners to work on changing the stupid code. The government is supposed to be working FOR us not AGAINST us.

They are making money hand over fist and it is all in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report that comes out every year. There is no need for them to charge excessive fees like that.

[Art123]

The fees are there as punishment. What's the point of having laws if there are no consequences for breaking the law?

There are a lot of people who wake up in the morning and just let their dogs loose, and do the same when they get home. I have neighbors that do this, same thing at the last place we lived.

That dog at the last place we lived was a terror. You couldn't walk down the street when it was out, and it was nearly impossible to catch. It took many months but FINALLY enough neighbors complained enough and the dog was caught by the county after many attempts. They fined the owner for the time it was caught, as well as for the days that it was found loose, but not caught.

And it worked, the dip$hit that kept letting the dog out stopped doing that.

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by Art123

The fees are there as punishment. What's the point of having laws if there are no consequences for breaking the law?

There are a lot of people who wake up in the morning and just let their dogs loose, and do the same when they get home. I have neighbors that do this, same thing at the last place we lived.

That dog at the last place we lived was a terror. You couldn't walk down the street when it was out, and it was nearly impossible to catch. It took many months but FINALLY enough neighbors complained enough and the dog was caught by the county after many attempts. They fined the owner for the time it was caught, as well as for the days that it was found loose, but not caught.

And it worked, the dip$hit that kept letting the dog out stopped doing that.

I agree there should be punishment for repeat offenders, we can't just have stray dogs running all around. But in my MIL's case, the gate was left open by a contractor. She has had the dog 8 years, never got loose until Friday, so she is a conscientious owner.

FI should have the first one as a freebie especially since they had do to nothing but take in the dog. $75 is way too high and again, why didn't PW use a scanner to read the tag to call her? They had the dog for a couple of hours while we searched the neighborhood! Also btw, someone mentioned rabies tag...he did have the rabies tag and now that I think about it, couldn't that also be traced to her?

The only thing she didn't have (and she does now) was a tag with her phone number hanging from his collar - and had she had that, I bet FI would still charge her $75.

[UpstateJohn]

Rabies tags can be traced back to the place where the shots were given, but some of those Rabies Shots trailers dont keep very good records, which is why we use a vet. Plus, the vet does have a reader, but the likelyhood of FI taking him to the vet is unlikely. I agree there should be a fee, but not 75 bucks.

[mcatp]

When I saw no tag on collar, I thought that meant no rabies tag. And yes I'm pretty sure they would have still charged the $75 even if the dog had identification because it was still running at large. Yes it sucks that someone left a gate opened, but you can put the dog up until they are gone and you can secure the fence again. Things like this happen when you own a pet.

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by mcatp

When I saw no tag on collar, I thought that meant no rabies tag. And yes I'm pretty sure they would have still charged the $75 even if the dog had identification because it was still running at large. Yes it sucks that someone left a gate opened, but you can put the dog up until they are gone and you can secure the fence again. Things like this happen when you own a pet.

Technically the dog was up. He was in the house and she then let him go out via the doggy door after the guy left. The gates are on the sides of the house, hard to see unless you go out in the yard and look. Both gates have springs to automatically close and they self lock. But the guy propped the door open. So really not the owners fault, but in the future she will be checking.