One month ago my husband and I decided on a 5-day excursion to Townsend, TN. We rented a cabin from Bearly Rustic cabin rentals. The cabin was on Tuckaleechee Rd. Across the street from the Camping Ground Church. Being in TN this time of the year is great. No crowds or crazy traffic was about the only part of our trip that was enjoyable.
I had grown very familiar with the area in 1982 when I was a liason for the China Pavilion. I spent roughly 2 years in Knoxville. Later, I had an opportunity to gain employment with a company in Maryville, TN and lived there for 4 years before my company was closed.
I now reside in Palm Beach, FL.
Now, back to my story.
Whilst staying in our rental cabin each night a large white dog with brown spots would run around our cabin barking in a manner that sounded like it was hurt. We later found out from the man next door that the dog was a hunting dog. A coon hunting dog to be exact. He said that they sound like that when they smell the trail of another animal.
At first, we thought that it might his dog but found out from him that a local city ordinance requires owners to put there dogs inside at night or at least tie them up where they couldn't wander. We quickly found out this was the first law that the Townsend City Police Department doesn't do anything about.
At 11:00PM each night, citizens are required by law in the city of Townsend to adhere to a "quiet time" that runs until 7AM. This ordinance, we were told, includes dogs. Also, nuisance dogs are addressed within the ordinances like the dogs that kept waking us up all night long.
The second night, the same dog came back, only this time he had two more dogs with him. My husband went outside to run the dogs off butone of them, another large white brown spotted dog, turned on him and tried to take chunk out his leg. Thankfully my husband was close enought to a piece of firewood to fend the dog off.
The third night, we counted 6 large hunting dogs which circled the cabin and barked for nearly 2 hours staight. Just when we thought that they were gone, they came back for another 45 minute round of loud painful barking.
The fourth and final night, we had enough of the very poor City of Townsend law enforcement. When the dog came back on the fourth night, he was by himself and my husband hit him right square across the head with a broom handle. He eally let out yelp then.
What should have been a trip to the peaceful side of the smokiesfor some R&R turned out to be nothing but an unenjoyable waste time in a town that won't do anything about an obvious dog pack problem.
Doesn't Townsend rely on the tourist's money to fund their police force? One would think that they would want tourists like my husband and I to have a peaceful enjoyable time while visiting their city. This just isn't the case. We had a horrible time.
What about the people in Townsend that are residents. Do they have to deal with this refusal of the local police to do their job also? What a shame.
The man that we spoke to told us that the chief of police was a real piece of work. He also said that the mayor was just as bad. We got to see some of the mayor's businesses while w were in town. He's got an out-house business at one entrance to townsend and at the other end he's got a tubing business with abig ugly sign placed in the middle of the river. How did he get away with that? You would think that a mayor would want to take a little pride in his community insted of making Townsend a dumping ground.
My husband and I were just really disappointed in our stayin Townsend. All of it was due to the fact that the local authorities in Townsend don't want to do their jobs. The man next door said they were lazy and I believe it.
My advice to anyone who reads this post is to not vacation to Townsend or rent a cabin there. There are other places that are much more reasonable to stay anyways in the Smokey Mountains. If you do go to Townsend, and you do decide to rent a cabin, make sure that you take a big gun to protect yourself from the roaming bands of coon hunting dogs that terrorize locals and tourists alike in the night hours.
Be ready for many nights without sleep if you rent a cabin in Townsend, TN.
PS We found out who most of the dogs belong to: Billy Ray Myers. The local people say that he is a real idiot and big talker. We also found out from sources unknown that Mr. Myers is a convicted felon. We heard gunshots come from the mobile home where we were told that he lived while we were staying in Townsend. Iguess this would be one more downfall of the Townsend City Police Department because convicted felons are not supposed to be in possession firearms.
Don't go to Townsend for your vacation, there's nobody there who'll serve and protect you. I'll never go back to Townsend. That was the worst vacation that I have ever had and it was all due to a bunch of dogs that shouldn't have been roaming in the first place.
I hope this post helps people to steer away from Townsend. You won't be sorry if you stay somewhere else.
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