PELL CITY, Ala. (AP) — Area officials agree education is the key toward combating animal cruelty through neglect.

“We see animal cruelty cases on a fairly continuous basis,” said Dr. Ken McMillan, partner and veterinarian at Pell City Animal Hospital. “But you have to define what animal cruelty is.”

McMillan said although he does see some malicious animal cruelty, the majority of cases involve individuals who don’t know how to properly care for an animal.

“A lot is an education problem,” he said.

McMillan said he sees puppies and dogs that suffered from ingrown collars, as well as dogs brought in by individuals who found the animal after it had been hit by a car.

“A fence is the most important thing you can do for your dog,” he said. “Fences are wonderful things. They keep your dog safe and other dogs out.”

McMillan said unconfined dogs tend to roam and will fight other dogs. He said merely confining your dog on your property with a chain won’t prevent other dogs from coming onto the property like a fence would.

“Keeping your dog in a fence also helps prevent the animal from getting and eating harmful things such as rat poison or antifreeze,” he said. “We are getting into the time of year where we see antifreeze poisoning cases.”

McMillan said antifreeze has a sweet taste animals like, and is very deadly, hard to detect, and expensive to treat.

“Be careful and clean up any antifreeze spills,” he said.

McMillan said other care issues such as flea and tick prevention are not cruelty issues but are issues pet owners still need to address.

“Pets are a privilege, and we must properly care for them,” he said. “They don’t need to suffer from fleas and ticks.”

McMillan said heartworm prevention is another important aspect that prevents against not only heartworms but also hookworms and roundworms that can be passed to children.

“Most of the stuff we see is avoidable with proper pet care,” he said. “Just do what you can to provide the best care for your pets. Pets deserve to be properly cared for.”

St. Clair County Assistant District Attorney Gwendolyn Connelly said the District Attorney’s office has dealt with several animal cruelty cases recently.

“We may have seen an increase due to the economy, or it could be due to an increased awareness and more individuals reporting cases of animal cruelty,” she said.

Connelly said education plays a key factor.

“We are working to let people know that animal cruelty will not be tolerated,” she said. “It is something we prosecute.”

Connelly said she advises pet owners to keep their animals inside a fence.

“The cases we see are from animals that are running loose and not properly confined,” she said. “I don’t recall any cases where the animal involved was inside its fence.”

Jessica McDonald, supervisor at the Talladega Animal Shelter, said they have seen a few cases recently of animal neglect of both horses and dogs.

“We checked into a couple of situations, and it was more of a neglect issue,” she said.

McDonald said the issues dealt mainly with insufficient shelter for the dogs and underweight horses.

“The owners have complied to correct the neglect issues,” she said.

McDonald said reported cases tend to increase in the winter.

“People are more likely to report a dog shivering in the cold due to lack of proper shelter than to report a lack of shelter in the summer when the dog is running around,” she said. “It is mainly an education issue. We point it out to the owners, who are more than willing to correct the issues.”

Linda Mask, director of the Animal Rescue Foundation in Sylacauga, said adequate shelter and food and water for pets is an important issue year-round but especially during the winter.

“Water is just as important during the winter as it is in the summer,” she said. “Water is a must year-round.”

Mask said without proper water and shelter, pets can freeze to death.

“A lot of what we see is animal neglect due to a lack of education,” she said. “People don’t realize that the animal needs proper care and must have food, water, and a place to get out of the weather.”

Mask said she has seen three cases of animal abandonment in the last three weeks.

“We are seeing a lot of people who don’t understand that you can’t just abandon your animal,” she said.

Mask said the good news is she is seeing fewer problems overall as time goes by.

“The public is becoming more educated,” she said. “Education is the key to it.”

Mask said she holds education programs in the schools.

“It amazes me each year how the students are more informed on animal care,” she said. “Our philosophy is that if we teach the children to properly treat animals, it also teaches them how to be parents and how to treat other humans.”