ASHLAND — Dozens of dog lovers present at the Ashland County commissioners meeting Thursday prompted political leaders to make immediate changes and promises to revisit a controversial euthanasia policy.
The standing-room only meeting lasted around 90 minutes as commissioners fielded concerns from residents who oppose a newly-enacted policy concerning the euthanasia of dogs.
The policy, adopted unanimously by commissioners on Jan. 11, states “dogs that have been at the shelter for more than one year will be euthanized.” It went into effect on Jan. 16.
The meeting remained mostly civil, with few bouts of heated back-and-forth discussion between commissioners and residents.
It ended amicably and even resulted in immediate changes, such as the creation of a dog shelter advisory committee, a discount in adoption fees through the end of the month and promises to make certain changes.
An advisory committee
The big takeaways include the commissioners’ creation of a “dog shelter advisory committee” and the board’s appointment of Laurie Mooney, a four-year volunteer of the shelter, as one of its members.
Mooney has also served on the board of Homeward Bound, the nonprofit that serves as the shelter’s fundraising arm.
The suggestion for an advisory committee originally stemmed from Ian Robinson, a current Homeward Bound board member.
“This board will help to make conclusions and decisions beneficial to the staff, donors, residents and wellbeing of the dogs at the shelter,” Robinson said of the committee.
He said minutes from those meetings should be published to offer transparency, and that the committee would “offer continuity over the span of time similar to how the (Ashland County Fair) board operates.”
“This will ensure that our new multi-million dollar asset is being run in a fair, equitable manner and ensures humane treatment of the dogs entrusted to the county until adopted,” Robinson said.
Mooney said she would be happy to serve on the committee.
The euthanasia clause
Commissioners also said the advisory committee would review the wording of the euthanasia clause in question.
“Oh, we’re definitely going to change the wording — no doubt about it,” said commissioner Denny Bittle.
Discounted adoption fees thru January 2024
Commissioners also unanimously approved a temporary waiver to the shelter’s $175 adoption fee. The waiver would apply to dogs that have been in the shelter’s custody for more than 11 months; the change is effective only through January.
All other adoptable dogs would cost $50 to adopt, through January.
Those who take advantage of the discounted adoption fees would still be responsible for purchasing a license for the dog.
Commissioner Mike Welch, who proposed the adoption fee changes, encouraged the people complaining about the adoption fee’s high price to “step up to the plate and be an owner.”
Bittle said there are currently 35 dogs housed at the shelter, but Jesy Boales — a dog shelter volunteer — said three dogs have been adopted just this week.
Updated hours of operation
The commissioners also said they would be willing to “revisit” the dog shelter’s hours of operation. The shelter is currently open Tuesday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The consideration comes after residents present during Thursday’s meeting suggested the hours were not conducive to improving adoption.
Chris Strine said a few hours of operation on Saturday would give people more options to come in and meet dogs.
Commissioners also seemed amenable to opening the shelter for walk-in times instead of the current appointment-only policy.
‘It’s a shame’
Bittle said he was disappointed with the public for heading straight for social media instead of approaching him or his colleagues with their concerns.
Commissioners approved the Ashland County Dog Shelter Rules and Regulations on Jan. 11 with no mention of significant changes. They did not discuss the 29-page document during the meeting.
On Friday, Jan. 12, a post from Linda Bolin pointed people to the new policy and urged residents to get the 12 dogs “in jeopardy of possibly being EUTHANIZED” adopted or moved to rescues or other shelters.
The post caused a firestorm. According to Facebook, Bolin’s post was shared 5,479 times and has nearly 500 comments under it.
“I want to say, first and foremost, it’s a shame that nobody on this board got a phone call on what that policy meant,” Bittle said on Thursday to the audience of around 40 dog lovers.
He refuted the idea that 12 dogs would be euthanized on the policy’s effective date, Jan. 16, and chastised the public for spreading “misinformation.”
“I hope, going forward, that the lesson for Ashland County is that when people have a huge objection to what government does … that they would do their homework before they put stuff on their Facebook,” Bittle said.
A resident, Bill Wentworth, took issue with that.
“You used that line that ‘after a year, they will be euthanized,’” he said, referring to the euthanasia clause. “That’s a pretty bold statement and that’s what people saw and they ran with it. It’s nobody’s fault they reacted the way they did.
“Because they had a right to do it, because of that line. So don’t blame anybody out here … we need to right the wrong. Are you going to take the line out or not?” he said.
Why was the policy passed without staff review?
Bittle said the dog shelter’s new policy book had been under construction by the board of commissioners for six months before it passed on Jan. 11.
“And then the board decided — we felt it was really good,” he said, adding the process is standard to develop policies and procedures before consulting the affected department.
Commissioner Jim Justice acknowledged that’s not the best way to create policy.
“We probably should have gone to the dog shelter and talked before we approved it,” Justice said.
Staff members at the dog shelter met with the commissioners on Tuesday to review it. Joe Eggerton, the dog warden, was not immediately available to comment on how that meeting went.
The dog shelter, by the numbers
Through a public records request, Ashland Source asked earlier this week to review dog shelter data going back to 2018. Most of those records were not available before publication.
However, the commissioners’ office was able to produce 2023 numbers reflecting adoptions, euthanasias and other numbers, which is provided below.
In 2023, there were:
- 210 dogs brought in
- 67 adopted dogs
- 1 death due to medical reasons
- 5 euthanized (three were deemed dangerous and 2 were because of being sick or injured)
- 107 reclaimed (the number of at-large dogs retrieved by the warden and reclaimed by family)
- 11 transferred out to another organization
The numbers show that 191 dogs left the shelter in 2023.
Bittle said four dogs have been at the shelter for more than two years, seven have been there over a year and 24 dogs have been there for under a year.
Currently there are 35 dogs at the shelter, but three were adopted this week.
Bittle further stated it costs $20 per dog each day they stay.
“It’s not all about dollars,” Bittle said. “But our responsibility as county commissioners is about dollars. We have to make sure the funding is there.”