County looks at ways to leash spending on animal control
Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A county animal shelter could be one of the solutions to rural Washington County’s animal control cost problems.
At Monday’s meeting of the County Services Committee of the Quorum Court, officials mentioned licensing laws, user fees and partnerships with some of the county’s smaller towns as ways to fund the construction and operation of the shelter.
Members of the committee admitted that the county’s spending an exorbitant amount of cash on catching stray cats and dogs and housing the animals at the Fayetteville Animal Shelter. Board member H. L. Goodwin said that as of Monday the county had sent 932 animals to the shelter, paying the initial $75 to drop the creatures off and then the additional $10 a day, which is charged by the shelter as soon as five days pass without an owner picking up the stray.
“Every year our allocation of money has gone up for an animal contract (with Fayetteville ),” Goodwin said. “Four years ago it was $60,000 last year it was around $92,000. ”
Goodwin pointed out that the sheriff’s department’s animal control officers have responded to 833 calls so far this year and 50 of those calls were to report vicious animals. Thirty-seven of the 50 were animals that had bitten a person.
Goodwin asked the committee to look at his numbers and then start discussion on how the county can control the costs.
“It’s only going to get bigger and bigger,” Goodwin said.
Joe Rodman, chairman of the county’s animal control advisory board, said that the county looked four years ago at building an animal shelter but the large price tag kept it from doing so.
In 2002 it opted to start a spay and neuter program that Rodman said was working quite well. He said that when the program was introduced officials knew it would take time to measure the program’s effectiveness. Rodman pointed out that now, about six years later, the population of the county has still been growing but the animal control officers have yet to see a tremendous surge in animal calls.
As far as controlling costs, Rodman said it may be time to look at the shelter idea again, but this time the county needs to find ideas to fund the process that doesn’t include tax dollars.
“Right now, as far as sheltering animals, those costs are somewhat out of our control,” Rodman said.
Candy Clark, a concerned Washington County citizen, said that the county should really look at licensing laws, requiring people to pay to license their pets. She said that it not only brings in initial revenue but it gives officers better chances of finding an animal’s home instead of taking the animal to a shelter.
“If your animal control officers can take home 10 animals a month that’s $750 saved,” Clark pointed out.
Clark added that the county could also start contracting with some of the small towns in Washington County who also are experiencing animal problems. She said that a few towns on board with the shelter could offset costs even more.
Jill Hatfield, animal services superintendent for the city of Fayetteville, said her city purchases around 3,000 to 4,000 licenses a year to give to local veterinarians to sell at $5 a piece. She said veterinarians get to keep $1 for every license they sell as an incentive.
Committee Chair man Butch Pond said that the board would continue to examine the issue, but also to keep in mind that cities in Washington County are rapidly annexing rural county land and so Washington County is shrinking.
“Do we build a shelter if we’re getting smaller?” Pond asked.
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