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March 9, 2010

Animal caregiver runs contrary to GBC law

Art Lawler The Athens Review

Athens — GUN BARREL CITY – A Cedar Creek Lake animal caregiver may have run afoul of the law.

And Gun Barrel City officials may have run afoul of Tina Hamilton, operator of a non-profit, 501C3 rescue center,  Happy Tails of Gun Barrel City.

The city’s animal control officer, Renee Alonzo, said she wrote Hamilton five citations Tuesday, totaling $1,320, which Hamilton says she won’t be able to pay.

“I don’t have a lot of money,” Hamilton said. “I really feel this is a calling.”

She said she hoped her friends would  help her if she had to go to jail.

Some city officials wish Hamilton would fulfill her calling outside the city limits of GBC. A separate citation was issued for each animal over the ordinance limit of four.

Hamilton and city officials can’t agree on how many dogs are over the limit. She’s been keeping the animals on her property in the subdivision.

City officials cited her for five over. Hamilton said she was only four over. Besides that, Hamilton said a city councilman told her a couple of years ago she could keep up to eight animals, as long as her neighbors didn’t complain.

Apparently one of them did, but Hamilton is skeptical.

“They planned every bit of this,” she said of the city. “There was no complaint.”

Hamilton also accused Alonzo of verbally harassing her, by telling her “I got you now. I got somebody to complain.”

And she also accused GBC City Manager Gerry Boren of telling her to move out of town during a telephone conversation Wednesday evening.

“I have never, nor will I ever, ask a person to move out of this city,” an upset Boren said.

“During the conversation, Mrs. Hamilton was given advice that this operation is not in compliance with city codes,” the city manager said.

Boren continued.

“I said ‘I recommend to you, that the operation cease, and is moved to another location outside of Gun Barrel City,’ I would never tell anybody to move out of this town.”

As for Alonzo’s alleged verbal harassment, the Review asked for Alonzo’s direct reply, but it was provided instead by Boren.

“He denied saying anything like that,”  Boren said. “He told me there was a loose dog in the Tamarack subdivision (not Hamilton’s), and that it took him about 30  minutes to catch the dog, and put it in the truck.”

While doing that,  Hamilton’s dogs and the apprehended dog began barking at each other.  At that point, Alonzo is said to have asked Hamilton if he could come into her yard, and count the number of dogs after her pets and the apprehended dog began barking at each other. Boren said Hamilton said no.

Both Boren and Hamilton say they’ve been fielding calls and receiving e-mails from all over the area, and as far away as Wichita Falls, concerning the matter.

Both agree that Hamilton does a good job caring for the pets and getting them adopted. She even found one for Boren to adopt, and give to his daughter a few years ago.

“She does a good job, but she is violating an ordinance of the city,” Boren said “She’s very popular with a lot of people. But so was Robin Hood and Jessie James. But they were breaking the law.”

He said there are ways to change ordinances, but until that time  the city will enforce its laws.

Hamilton attempted to have the ordinance changed a couple of years ago but his proposal was voted down when Mayor Paul Eaton cast the tie-breaking vote against it.

Hamilton feels city officials have turned their backs on her now after she helped the city out numerous times in recent years.

“The city has brought me five dogs to adopt out,” she said. “They’ve also had me hold some dogs for court cases.”

She said the city had sent her on calls to pick up stray dogs in recent years when the animal control officer was off-duty.

Finally, she said she was asked to fill in for animal control for three weeks by the city when it got into a jam.

“I returned pets to their  homes without fining anybody. When one of them said she was going to give up her pet because she couldn’t keep him penned up, I came back with my own material, and patched the fence so they could keep their dog,” she said. “I supplied the city with food and supplies when they were rebuilding their animal holding building,” she said.

Hamilton said many people bring her pets in the middle of the night. Realtors call her when they’re trying to clean up property and find animals left behind.

“I have had 427 animals spayed or neutered,” she said. “I have the records to prove it.

Hamilton said she wishes she had the money to keep her animals on land somewhere outside the city, and wishes other animal lovers would get together to help finance a place where more animals could be rescued.

Boren said he will sit down with animal control on Monday to determine exactly what happened, and to discuss the matter in more detail once he has completed his research on the controversy.

He said he’s worked hard since coming to GBC to make city employees to show sensitivity to citizens in the community.

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