Nothing is over. Nothing. From failure to success, the idea of the county commission forming an animal welfare committee went from being a whipping dog to a pedigree all in a month.

Dr. Scott Little proposed the idea just before the close of the regular February session of the county court this past week while recalling the same call for a committee to be formed had failed just one month before. However, during that original vote there was one abstention and one absence. When he called for the vote this past week, everyone was present and accounted for. The end result, the committee passed 8-6.

While Dr. Little assured there is no plan to given the animal shelter money and that the formation is for study purposes, his pledge was received with skepticism by Commissioner Jerry Adcock.

“I am an animal lover but when we start doing that then the county is going to start getting into the animal business and that is something we really don’t need to do,” Adcock said. “If we make another committee we’re going to make our government bigger. We don’t need to get into the animal business. DeKalb County needs to stay away from it. If we do get into the animal business that is going to be a tax increase. The reason this committee is getting together is to make a recommendation that we pay x amount of dollars to the animal shelter.

Adcock’s angst was raised last meeting when he vehemently opposed the idea since the county had given the animal shelter $75,000 a few years ago for construction of their new shelter.

“They promised they would run it and have fundraisers and said that if we would give them $75,000 to build that it would be enough and they would never come back before this commission asking for more.” Adcock pointed out while trying to rally allies in the most recent commission vote. “Now this commission is forming a committee to start giving them more money. I don’t care what anybody says that is what is going to happen.”

Little was a bit frustrated by Adcock’s tone and questioned why simply forming a committee would be met with such resistance.

“It amazes me how members of this commission can already decide what this committee is going to do and what they are going to come back with and what they are going to say,” Little said. “All we are asking for is a committee to study these issues and look at them and when government gets afraid of actually studying an issue or looking at an issue I don’t believe we’re doing what government was formed to do. This is an issue that involves every single citizen of our community and it is not only an animal welfare issue but a public health issue.”

County Mayor Tim Stribling appointed Commissioners Little, Fish-Stewart, and Young to serve on the committee. His appointment brought a comment from Adcock, asking why he only appointed people who voted “yes” to the measure to the committee.