More on animal control officer

The Charlotte Observer is one of the earlier news organizations to discuss the fact that Waxhaw at one point had an animal control officer. A snippet from the article, which is definitely worth checking out.

For years, the dog leash law in this small town has gone largely unenforced. Officials halted animal control service because there weren't enough complaints.

What is left unsaid is that it was ultimately a cost-cutting measure by the town. I'm not saying it would've prevented this tragedy, but it is what it is.

I'm not an expert on the population growth of Waxhaw, but around the time the former animal control officer was let go, growth in Waxhaw was booming or expected to boom. Shortly after signing the papers on our house, I remember reading an Observer article talking about expected population growth in Union County towns. And Waxhaw by far was expecting the most of any town in the county.

I want to say it gave a figure of approximately 10000 new homes, but that seems ludicrous to me, so don't quote me on that. It was high enough to make me wonder how much longer that Waxhaw might be the quaint little town it seemed to be at that time. (As a side note, I will say the housing slowdown and recession have surely put a damper on whatever figure was quoted in the article, with incomplete or failing developments as illustration.)

Either way, given the population expectations at the time, I'm not sure removing the animal control officer position was very forward-thinking, whether or not it would've prevented this tragedy. But hindsight is 20/20, I guess.