Couple gets partial win on dog exception

Following a lengthy hearing, the Houston County Commission on Tuesday gave a partial victory to a couple seeking to keep twice as many dogs as allowed.

Michael and Michelle Seals sought a waiver to the ordinance that limits residents to three dogs. They live in Statham’s Landing and have six dogs.

Michelle Seals said they weren’t aware of the limitation when they acquired the dogs. They said the dogs are like family and do not go outside without someone present. Don Parrott, president of the Statham’s Landing Homeowners Association, was the only person to speak against allowing an exception.

Parrott disputed that the dogs do not go outside unattended. The home is on subdivision’s golf course, and he said when he attempted to retrieve a golf ball from their backyard, two of the dogs behaved aggressively toward him. He said no one was around. Golfers are supposed to be able to retrieve balls from the yards of homes along the fairways.

Seals said some of the dogs are rescues with anxiety and expensive health issues, and would be unlikely to be adopted by anyone else. She asked that they be allowed to keep the dogs until the dogs died, and she wouldn’t acquire any more dogs.

A next door neighbor of Seals said she had never seen their dogs outside without supervision and she had no problem with the exception.

Commissioner Gail Robinson said she believed the circumstances warranted an exception, and she was particularly swayed by the fact that no immediate neighbors had a complaint. But she made a motion that the exception be only for a year, and the couple would have to be down to three dogs by then. The motion was approved unanimous.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Couple gets partial win on dog exception."