By: John Zippert,
Co-Publisher

Much of the discussion at the January 24, 2017 Eutaw City Council was devoted to complaints about vicious and stray dogs in the city.
Part of the concern was with pit bulls owned by Lonnie and Channel Glenn who live at 122 Harris Avenue. Glenn is a police officer with the Eutaw Police Department. Channel Glenn, his wife, is an outspoken city resident who often attends City Council meeting and raises various grievances.
This time the shoe was on the other foot, as several audience members questioned the Council about ordinances governing vicious dogs and stray dogs that are roaming the city.
Blondie Means who was bitten by one of the Glenn’s pit bulls on Thanksgiving Day -2016 was at the Council meeting questioning the Mayor and Council about enforcing the ordinances against “vicious dogs” like the Glenn’s pit bulls. Means said she suffered lacerations on her hands, face and breast from the dog. The dog was shot by a passerby and later euthanized by the police. Means lives two doors down from the Glenn’s on Harris Avenue and says she is afraid to come out of her house because of the dogs.
Mattie Roscoe, mother of George Roscoe, said her son was attacked by the same dogs on Thanksgiving and had to go to the hospital for treatment. The second dog was placed in quarantine for ten days because of the attack.
Channel Glenn told this reporter “You at the Democrat have the story all wrong. Someone was trying to steal my dogs and that is why the dogs attacked them. You better get the story right!”

At the January 10 City Council meeting, Ms. Glenn testified that,
“I love my dogs like they are my children. They are locked up and never out. Someone was trying to hurt my dogs that is why they were bitten.”
Residents asked Mayor Steele what he was going to do about enforcing city ordinances on vicious and stray dogs. Steele said he and the city’s attorney, Ken Aycock were studying the laws and would take appropriate action soon. The Mayor seemed in a difficult spot caught between angry citizens and a set of dog owners who are on the police force and who gave him political support in the last election.
Eutaw Police Chief Derrick Coleman said, “ I was out of town at the last City Council meeting. I have heard about the problem with the dogs. One dog was put down and the other dog was cleared by a veterinarian in Greensboro, after the ten day quarantine and returned to the owners.”
Coleman said that the Glenn’s may have as many as 7 or 8 pit bulls living in their house but they are very careful in taking care of them and supervise them when they let them out. Coleman said he was waiting on the Mayor to give him additional instructions on the dogs and enforcement of relevant ordinances against vicious dogs.
Other complaints were raised at the City Council about packs of stray dogs running around in Eutaw and the need for an animal control officer to catch the dogs and take them away.
Ms. Yvonne Smith of 324 Kirksey Avenue and her daughter Sabrina Smith came by the Democrat to complain of a pack of stray dogs in their neighborhood. They brought a photograph of the dogs camping out on their porch. Yvonne Smith said, “ I have to use a walker and I cannot chase the dogs away. They smell and leave behind bad odors. What is the city doing about these problems?”
In the public comment period other citizens raised questions about flooding on Ann Street, due to clogged drains; lighting problems on Springfield Avenue; a sinkhole that needs to be corrected on Prairie Avenue; and a school bus driver raised concerns about a roadway at Hook Avenue off Mesopotamia.
Faye Tyree complained that she was appointed to the Eutaw Housing Authority on October 25, 2016, based on a letter from former Mayor Hattie Edwards. Mayor Steele sent her a letter to vacate her board position because there was no record in the minutes of her appointment. Tyree said two other persons were appointed at the same time and they have not received letters from the Mayor.
The Council approved a request by the National Wild Turkey Federation to use the National Guard Armory for a dinner and approved the city attorney to develop a resolution on clearing an abandoned house on Tuscaloosa Street adjacent to the Eutaw Elderly Village.
Many citizens left the meeting shaking their heads about the need for action on the problem of the pit bulls and stray dogs. These citizens will be waiting to see what Mayor Steele and the City Council do to deal with these problems at future meetings.