Concerned citizens largely from the Cable Square subdivision in Elon filled the town council’s chambers last week to voice their concerns about a dangerous dog that killed the much smaller pet dog of another resident in the subdivision.
The council spent about an hour hearing residents – beginning with Barbara Harris and Wendy Scott – voice their concerns and asking questions, as well as allowing Elon’s police chief and assistant chief to explain the process the town is going through to address the dangerous dog issue.
The incident involved the middle-of-the-night killing on Sunday, November 9, of Jamilah McConnell’s 12-year-old Havanese, Saadey (pronounced “Sadie”); McConnell also addressed the council.
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Read an interview with Ms. Jamilah McConnell about the trauma of seeing her dog killed by a neighbor’s pit bull mix: https://alamancenews.com/saadeys-owner-describes-trauma-of-middle-of-the-night-attack-on-her-pet/
A pitbull mix, owned by James Melvin King, Jr., white, male, age 56, of 650 Olsen Drive, was the attacking dog, according to a citation and subsequent letter issued to King by the Elon police department.
King was cited for allowing a dog “running at large.” His court date is set for January 7, 2026.
However, pressed by several residents about what more the town could do to address the issue, police chief Kelly Blackwelder and assistant police chief Kedrick King explained the limitations they face.
Both explained that while the police had deemed the dog “dangerous,” that “does not constitute an automatic seizure” of the dog.
The pit bull is the property of James Melvin King, Jr., and, as such, subject to protections under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution about “unreasonable searches or seizures.”
While some neighbors said the dog was a persistent danger, Blackwelder and King said this was the first incident about which the town police had been notified involving this dog or dog owner.
They urged residents in Cable Square and elsewhere in town to let the police know about similar situations in the future, so that they could be more proactive in future incidents.
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Councilman Michael Woods, who lives in the subdivision and to whom McConnell turned the morning after her dog was killed, also related the tale of a new mother in the neighborhood who is afraid to walk her newborn in the subdivision because of the dog attack.
In a letter to the dog owner, Blackwelder and assistant chief King (no relation) told him, “Based on the investigation conducted by the Elon Police Department, it has been determined that your dog, ‘Charlie,’ a male brown and white pit mix, was involved in an unprovoked fatal attack on another domestic animal while off your property. This action meets the criteria established under both North Carolina General Statue section 67-4.1(a)(2) and the Town of Elon Dangerous Dog Ordinance, and as such, ‘Charlie’ is hereby declared a dangerous dog.”
As such, they told the dog owner that “Charlie” must be confined “in a secure enclosure that prevents escape and prevents entry by any person not authorized to be on the premises”; that the police must be notified if “Charlie” is “moved, transferred, sold, or if ownership changes.”
Some residents claimed to have seen the dog jump what they described as the homeowner’s four-foot fence.
Assistant chief King who had met with the dog owner said that the dog owner “loves his dog,” and initially didn’t believe his dog was the perpetrator of the attack that killed McConnell’s dog Saadey, until blood was found on his dog, “Charlie.”
Neighbors in the audience pressed the chief and assistant chief about what recourse they would have if the dangerous dog attacked a resident or another dog.
On the one hand, Blackwelder said it is illegal to discharge a firearm within the town limits; at the same time, she also said told one resident that if he or his dog were attacked, it may be justified to shoot the attacking dog.
Neighbors also wanted to know whether the dog could be given up by the owner, or “put down”?
Mayor Emily Sharpe also urged the homeowners’ association to consider whether additional restrictions might be put on dangerous dogs in order to have some “public shaming,” and perhaps tougher sanctions that the town currently has available.
There was also sporadic references to there having been some “enforcement actions,” perhaps by federal law enforcement agencies, at the dog owner’s home, although neither Elon law enforcement officer would elaborate on what that might have been. They did refer to these actions as “active investigations,” i.e., ongoing.
A check of North Carolina criminal records, shows no previous or pending charges against James Melvin King, Jr.
