The Whitfield County Animal Shelter recently put a screen over the fence outside the communal pens. Officials say it has helped reduce fighting among the dogs.

DALTON, Ga. — Don Allen Garrett, director of the Whitfield County Animal Shelter, says there have been no fights among dogs in communal pens on the outside of the building since the shelter installed a screen on the fence a few weeks ago.

Before that, the fights were pretty common, he says, when there were people outside the fence, especially on days when a local veterinarian would be there spaying and neutering pets.

“Walking up to a pen full of dogs all wanting your attention is not a good thing even on the inside of the building,” said Garrett. “They will crowd the fence trying to get people’s attention and one will climb up on another. We do not have the space to separate these dogs when this occurs so we have to try to keep them as calm and unexcited as is possible.”

Garrett noted that the screen does not completely cover the pens.

“People can still see inside if they want to,” he said.

Garrett said no particular incident prompted them to install the screen.

“We’ve been looking for a way to stop the fighting, and we seem to have found it,” he said.

Jan Eaton, of Tri State Pet Rescue in Blue Ridge, says she believes the fence is just one more step in keeping animal rescue groups, and the public, from being able to see how the dogs at the shelter are being kept.

“I think this is very symbolic of their mindset,” she said.

In May, the shelter barred the animal rescue groups, and the public, from going back into the kennels. Previously, dog owners and members of rescue groups could go back into the kennel area to look at the animals. County officials said that move was also prompted by safety and liability concerns about having people so close to the dogs.

“They talked to me before putting the screen up,” said Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Lynn Laughter. “They told me that having people outside the fence gets the dogs excited and that can cause problems. That’s all there is to it. I know some people think we are covering something up, but we have nothing to hide.”