The City of Rincon has purchased a Border Collie to chase geese from Lost Plantation golf course.
City council members agreed unanimously Monday to pay $2,000 for Bond, an 18-month-old dog that has been trained to chase birds.
The city has had complaints from golfers and people who live on the golf course about the waste left by the geese.
Each bird makes up to 2 pounds of waste each day and sometimes hundreds of the birds visit the course at once.
Many of them stay in the area year-round.
Bond will live with golf course superintendent Seth Zeigler, on his 10-acre parcel outside the city and with Zeigler’s Labrador – Lucky.
Zeigler said he’ll get as much training as he needs to learn how to handle the dog, and up to two other city workers can be trained as backups.
The dog, from Flyaway Farm and Kennels in Chadbourne, N.C., will cost the city an estimated $500 to $600 a year to feed and take to the veterinarian, said Flyaway owner Rebecca Gibson.
She has been training dogs to chase birds for 20 years. They frequently are used to clear birds from airport runways.
Gibson introduced Bond to reporters Thursday and used two Border Collies to demonstrate what they can do.
Reporters and city officials watched Gibson use whistles and voice commands to have the dogs find the geese and chase them away from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The entourage then piled into about eight vehicles and drove to the golf course, where the dogs chased probably the same geese away from the 18th hole.
Bond will be the third dog purchased by the city. The Rincon Police Department has K-9s Senna and Snitch.
City Manager Wesley Corbitt agreed that having another dog increases the city’s cool factor. “I think it’s a pretty cool place to be,” he said.
The city recently was named the 10th happiest place to live in Georgia, by Website onlyinyourstate.com, and the best city for young families by nerdwallet.com.
“We don’t apply for these things, they just come to us,” Corbitt said. “Rincon’s got a lot going on. It’s an exciting time.”
The city is getting a big, new Kroger on Ga. 21 next spring and expects some other businesses to open next to it. And last week the city held a ribbon-cutting for its expansion of Macomber Park recreational complex, adding four new baseball fields, batting cages, a new concession stand and additional parking. The expansion, done over the last several years, cost about $2.5 million.
Rincon uses sales tax proceeds to roll back the millage rate so that residents don’t pay any property taxes.
The city purchased the golf course so it could use it as a sprayfield for its wastewater treatment system.
Gibson said unlike some police dogs, Bond can be approached and petted by members of the public. She said he likes the attention and she won’t be surprised if golfers start to carry treats in their pockets.