Georgia imposes fines, training for Liberty County Animal Control

Liberty County Animal Services can again pick up stray animals after a state investigation resulted in no charges related to an incident during which a county worker used a crossbow to kill two street dogs and mortally injure a third during a dog fight.

The ban on picking up strays lasted just over a month and ended Friday, when the county and Georgia Department of Agriculture signed a consent agreement and allegations of animal cruelty were dismissed. During that period, the Georgia Coastal Health District logged 25 bite calls in Liberty County.

The details surrounding the dog fight last October and Liberty County’s handling of the complaint remain murky. The original complaint was made by Long County Animal Shelter, according to the Agriculture Department’s investigative report. That report claimed that LCAS Director Steve Marrero and Animal Control Officer George Lynch violated Georgia’s aggravated animal cruelty law when attempting to kill the presumably dangerous dogs.

However, no criminal charges are being brought against either officer, County Attorney Kelly Davis confirmed Tuesday. Furthermore, the head of Long County’s animal shelter, Austin Maynard, denied his agency had filed a complaint.

Davis said events listed in the consent agreement were “allegations only and are not findings or acknowledged facts.” Still, the county has agreed to pay $2,500 to the Agriculture Department and invest another $2,500 in training for Animal Services officers in the next 12 months. Current and future officers must train with the Agriculture Department’s Companion Animal Program on Department Rules. 

Under the terms of the decree, the county has 30 days to turn in revised standard operating procedures, which Marrero has already written and submitted to County Administrator Joseph Mosley. Those revisions specifically prohibit crossbows and “any projectile device not expressly permitted by law.”

Any further violation will incur a $3,000 fine.

Copies of the Feb. 10 public notice prohibiting “incoming animals” posted at the shelter showed three black bars hiding the reasons for the stop order. 

On Thursday, The Current GA filed an Open Records Request with the Agriculture Department for the unredacted notice — which a spokesman said Friday the Agriculture Department had not redacted.

The unredacted stop order cited three alleged violations: euthanasia, humane care, and animal cruelty. 

No dangerous, stray dog pickups for weeks

Meanwhile, Liberty County did not contract with an alternative source to manage stray animals during the month and a half the stop order was in effect, Mosley confirmed by email. 

But Animal Services does not need to pick up every dog that bites, Coastal Health District spokesperson Ginger Heidel explained: “[Rabies] quarantine usually occurs in the owner’s home unless there are circumstances that make that difficult.” Animal Services does pick up biting dogs “at large.”

Animal Services did make field visits to investigate animal bite cases, including one in which two pit bulls on Colonels Island escaped their yard and attacked a standard poodle its owner was walking on a leash.

Reports describe aggressive dogs, crossbow use

Under the Georgia Open Records Act, The Current obtained reports on the incident from Hinesville Police, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Liberty County, and Liberty County Animal Services. While some details vary among the reports, they concur on the main events of October 9, 2025. 

Animal Services responded to complaints about a pack of stray dogs hanging around homes next to a wooded area on Paul Caswell Boulevard. An Animal Services officer arrived and snared one dog. The rest turned aggressive. The officer put the snared dog in his truck, then called Marrero for advice. Hinesville Police officers arrived after one dog had been shot and killed. A second dog bled out on scene. A third, also struck by crossbow, ran into the woods and was not found. The final dog was later captured and, along with the first dog, euthanized at Animal Services.

On Tuesday, Hinesville Police released three bodycam videos in response to The Current’s Open Records Request. All show the general scene, two crossbows, a panicked dog running from Animal Control and HPD, and HPD officers talking with Marrero, a citizen who’d stopped to help, and amongst themselves.

On the video, Marrero told HPD officers that the Animal Control was at that time “still in between stages” of an intergovernmental agreement for LCAS to provide animal control within Hinesville city limits.

No time for tranquilizer darts

“We cannot use a dart gun on aggressive dogs due to the fact that we do not have the proper medication for the dart guns,” Marrero told The Current on March 18, “and the risk of a dog with the dart in its body running through a neighborhood was not feasible. The goal was to keep the five animals contained in one area so that they didn’t spread into the neighborhood.”

Marrero added Flemington Veterinary Hospital dispenses and tracks controlled substances, by law, for Animal Control dart guns or euthanasia cases as needed. 

The incident happened about 12 miles from the vet’s office. That would have meant at least a 30-minute round trip from the scene, plus the time needed to sign for the drugs, before a single dart could have been fired.

And that, Marrero says, is impossible in emergencies when Georgia only allows veterinarians to dispense euthanasia drugs, which are controlled substances. 

Part of the problem, he says, is that a vet is not always available in an emergency. Liberty County, like other rural counties, has far fewer veterinarians than large cities like Atlanta.

“I take this to the legislature every year,” Marrero said, adding state officials “don’t think it’s a problem.”

While nothing in Georgia law explicitly prohibits Animal Services officers from using crossbows to dispatch dangerous dogs, Georgia law specifically prohibits cruelty to dogs and requires anyone killing dogs to be “as humane as is possible under the circumstances.” 

It also makes an exception for “the authority or duty of any law enforcement officer, dog or rabies services officer, humane society, or veterinarian.” 

That means any Hinesville Police Department officer on scene could have used their service weapon to dispatch any dog that was mortally wounded or that posed an immediate danger.

Crossbows are legal in Georgia for killing feral hogs and wild game. Only sodium pentobarbitol or related clinically humane veterinary drugs shall be used on dogs and cats, according to the Agriculture Department.

High-risk situations, the National Animal Care and Services Association notes, “may require additional equipment such as Tasers, bulletproof vests, chemical immobilization equipment, and expandable batons (ASPs).”

Only officers with proper training and safety gear may use those tools.

How does Liberty County handle stray animals?

When The Current dropped by Liberty County Animal Services Wednesday, Marrero offered a tour of the facility. As the Agriculture Department had noted in previous inspections, the pound was clean, well-stocked, and can hold up to 16 dogs in regular kennels and two more in isolation. Three years of “Best Of Georgia” awards hung on the lobby wall. Several donated kennels and a shady “catio” of frisky felines stood outside.

Marrero pointed out that he and his staff hold NACS certifications that require continuing education, and that, because the shelter brings in so many grants, “I have a lot of accountability and people to report to.” 

When 911 gets a stray animal call, it might send law enforcement or Animal Control. If law enforcement goes out, it sends a report to Animal Control.

LCAS’ manual requires euthansia for “severely ill, injured, or dangerous animals be done “in a humane manner with sedation prior to the act… whenever possible.” Any “immediate euthanasia” must follow federal Animal Welfare Act and NCAC rules, and be done by a certified euthanasia technician or licensed veterinarian. 

The director decides which animals to euthanize based on “space, ability to cope in a shelter environment or new home environment, temperament, health, age, and condition.” 

LCAS-approved rescue groups can take healthy animals for fostering and adoption.

Type of Story: Investigative

In-depth examination of a single subject requiring extensive research and resources.