A Covington County woman who said a neighbor saved her from being mauled by a group of dogs asked the Board of Supervisors for help in being safe around her home.
Ruby Duckworth spoke to the Covington County Board of Supervisors during their meeting on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Chancery Court building in Collins. She said she wasn’t aware that the county did not have a leash law.
Covington County Supervisors heard Ruby Duckworth's complaint about vicious dogs near her home.
Additionally, Accountant Charles Prince explained the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget to, from left, District 4 Supervisor Guy Easterling, Chancery Clerk Joseph Warren, and Board President Jimmy White. The supervisors are expected to meet Wednesday, Sept. 11 to vote on the budget.
“I had to call in the police because we had vicious and biting dogs in my community,” she said as she told her story about one attack. “One day, I was out by my garbage bin, and little boys were walking their dogs. A dog chased me from my garbage bin, and I was running. I yelled to the boy to call the dog back; they thought it was funny that the dog chased me. I have a leaky valve (in her heart). I yelled back for him to call his dog, and I gave out of breath when I got to my doorstep. I fell down. My neighbor and her son had heard me, and they stopped the dog. He could have killed me.”
The dogs in Duckworth’s neighborhood have terrorized other residents, she said.
“I have several police reports, and those dogs have come up and destroyed not only my property,” Duckworth said. “They have destroyed another lady’s rose garden, and they have torn all the skirting off her trailer. She has cats, and I have cats too. So, my daughter and I decided that we would buy cages for dogs to protect my cats in, but it didn’t. So, my neighbor and I decided that we would wall up this shed my husband built before he passed away. She looked out her window one morning, and there was a dog who had jumped over the 3-foot wall to get to that cat.”
Duckworth said she has been afraid to go outside of the house.
“The dogs need to be on a leash,” she said. “I called the police several times, and one of them told me he couldn’t do anything. So, I don’t sleep.”
District 5 Supervisor Alfred Keys oversees Duckworth’s district. He said stricter laws would be beneficial, but for now, residents need to be aware of dangerous dogs in their neighborhoods.
“They need to advise the county about the situation,” he said. “We need to make them aware of the fact that we have elderly people in the communities. If these dogs become a hazard to them and they don’t have the speed to get out of their way, they need to know whose dogs they are. We are going to have our lawyer check into the means that we can keep these dangerous animals from running around.”
Board Attorney Tommy Rogers took Duckworth’s telephone number and said he would check into the legalities involved in dangerous animals.