AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) — Residents in an Americus community say they are living in fear following a string of aggressive stray dog attacks, while a local city council member claims his aggressive push to get the problem addressed has led to targeted retaliation from local police.

The safety concerns have escalated in the Sun Valley neighborhood, located in Americus’ District 6. Councilman Daryl Dowdell, who represents the district, says the neighborhood has experienced at least five aggressive dog incidents in two weeks.

Among those affected is Dr. Pam Fields, a resident of more than 20 years. Fields says her son was recently cornered in her yard by a pack of aggressive dogs while trying to film an infomercial for his business.

“They came up to him and start aggressively barking at him, coming to him, coming onto our property,” Fields said. “He had to take his camera stuff, lens and stuff, and start swinging it and hitting and running them off, because they were aggressively at him.”

Fields said the constant threat of loose dogs has left many in the community feeling trapped inside their own homes.

“We want our neighborhood to be safe,” Fields said. “We have children in this neighborhood. We have elderly people... and nobody should feel unsafe to be able to walk.”

The issue is deeply personal for Councilman Dowdell as well. He described a dangerous encounter where a loose dog went after his own family.

“A pit bull ran my wife while she was outside exercising, foaming out the mouth, running behind her,” Dowdell said. “Two dogs wouldn’t even let my kids out of the house. They hit the door and knocked my youngest son back in the house.”

Allegations of Internal Targeting

Dowdell says he repeatedly escalated these concerns to city leaders, including the city manager and Police Chief Mark Scott, after observing animal control officers stationary during emergency dispatch calls.

However, Dowdell claims that once he began demanding a stronger response and questioning city leadership, the focus shifted from public safety to his personal vehicles. Dowdell says police department leadership held a briefing regarding the window tint on his personal and work trucks, leading to what he describes as targeted harassment.

“I just don’t understand how I was being targeted because I wanted a safer community, because I thought that’s what we all was here for,” Dowdell said. “The only thing I was trying to do was make my community safe.”

Police Chief Responds to Community Concerns

Americus Police Chief Mark Scott denied any retaliation and defended his department’s response, stating that officers actively investigate and respond to every animal-related complaint.

“I had a meeting with Mr. Dowell and with the city manager to address, you know, some of the concerns that he had. Chief Scott said. ”I felt like when we left the meeting that we had kind of come to an understanding and a resolution."

“We can show that we responded to every single complaint. We made charges where charges were appropriate,” Chief Scott said. “We did seize some of the animals that were involved and turned them over to the Humane Society.”

Scott acknowledged that the city is currently experiencing a temporary staffing gap. The previous animal control officer recently resigned, leaving the city “in between” full-time officers. Scott noted that in the month before the officer’s resignation, the city seized approximately 50 animals.

While the city actively advertises to fill the vacant animal control position, Scott assured residents that patrol officers are covering the gap and responding to animal calls.

He urged residents to remain vigilant and report any loose or aggressive animals immediately.

“Anytime they see a dog running loose, they should call,” Scott said. “They can either call 911 or they can call the non-emergency number… especially if it’s an aggressive dog.”

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