With the exception of some canned statement of sadness related to the mauling of Justin Gilstrap, Columbia County officials have been silent on the issue of animal control. The inaction and silence on the county’s part is deafening.
When Augusta’s ambulance provider gave notice of termination of the contract, Mayor Garnett Johnson called an emergency meeting to deal with the issue. He showed true leadership and a willingness to work and solve the problem.
After the mauling of Gilstrap, Columbia County has done absolutely nothing.
Code Enforcement, Animal Control, the sheriff’s office and the County Commission all have one thing in common related to this matter. They were not taken by surprise that an incident occurred related to the residents at 212 Langston Dr.
Hundreds of pages of emails, condemnation notices, court proceedings and incident reports all indicate a systemic problem surround 212 Langston Dr. and its residents. For years, the county held a slow and weak posture towards dealing with these residents. It is unclear if the county’s posture was due to overwork, policies or incompetence but the Gilstrap family likely doesn’t care what the reason was. That mistake is likely going to cost Columbia County millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit they are sure to be named in.
The day after the mauling occurred, Columbia County’s leadership should have called an emergency meeting to discuss the current policies in place related to animal control. Solutions should have been found to fix the glitch that allowed this horrific incident to happen.
Instead, we get deafening silence.
Where is the outrage for the young boy who was mauled? It should not take two months for the county to hold a meeting to address policy. Residents of Columbia County need to demand that their elected leaders step up and address this issue head on before someone else gets attacked or even killed.
