ASHLAND — Dog warden duties in Ashland County might soon permanently fall onto the sheriff’s office, county commissioners announced.
The Ashland County Sheriff’s Office stepped in to field vicious dog calls in the absence of a full-time dog warden. Joe Eggerton resigned from that post on May 23.
Ashland County Commissioner Denny Bittle said he anticipates a July 1 start date for a dog warden that would be employed by the sheriff’s office.
“Nothing is in writing yet,” he said. “But it’ll be a full-time officer dedicated to dogs.”
Bittle said the officer’s two main responsibilities would include “going after” licenses and stray dogs.
The board of commissioners will still maintain operations of the shelter and the commissioners’ deputy clerk, Sherri Maneese, will handle administrative tasks that Eggerton previously handled.
Commissioner Jim Justice said the new position will also have responsibilities related to handling larger animals with the Humane Society of Ashland County.
Commissioner Mike Welch said other counties operate in a similar fashion. He cited Wyandot and Stark counties, which have established memorandums of understanding between the sheriff’s office and the board of commissioners.
The announcement comes weeks after commissioners injected the dog shelter with $130,251 to keep the doors open at the shelter. The shortfall, an investigation found, was related to higher utility bills, failure to renew 943 dog licenses and higher wages.
Days after the financial move, the shelter’s dog warden, Eggerton, resigned. Public records reveal commissioners alleged Eggerton violated four shelter rules, while Eggerton felt as if his bosses micromanaged the facility and his job.
Euthanasia policy changes?
Meanwhile, the newly formed Dog Shelter Advisory Committee held a meeting on June 3 to discuss amendments to a controversial policy handbook commissioners ratified without public input in January.
The 29-page document, entitled the Ashland County Dog Shelter Rules and Regulations, contains policies meant to guide operations of the dog shelter. One of the rules, however, sparked public outcry because it requires dogs to be euthanized when they’ve been housed at the shelter for more than a year.
The advisory committee has met on three separate occasions since April to suggest specific changes to the rulebook. The advisory committee finalized its suggestions during the June 3 meeting, but Bittle was absent. So the group decided to bring its suggestions to Thursday’s commissioner meeting.
Veronica Negrey, a member of the advisory committee and a longtime volunteer of the shelter, presented the group’s suggested changes, which included deleting the clause “dogs that have been at the shelter for more than one year will be euthanized.”
Other changes included requiring owners to show proof of ownership when picking up a stray, when the shelter would be administering dewormer medicine and which drugs the shelter would use in certain circumstances.
Negrey said the committee also discussed shelter wishlist items, such as a play yard for strays, video surveillance and a couple cages used when transporting a stray to the shelter. Those items have been purchased, but requests have been made to the shelter’s fundraising arm, Homeward Bound.
Commissioners have not voted on the committee’s suggested changes. Bittle said he, Justice and Welch will review the changes and vote at another time.
‘For God’s sake — call’
The exchange between commissioners and dog shelter advocates on Thursday lasted around 40 minutes. At one point during that portion of the meeting, Bittle said he was disappointed with the public for its backlash on the way things have been handled at the dog shelter.
“If you have questions and concerns, for God’s sake — call. Call the dog shelter, call Trisha (the shelter’s manager) … don’t use Facebook. Use a phone, come up and talk,” he said, adding the negativity has caused major donors to be concerned.
“We have not done everything perfect, right? We admit that. There’s a lot of things we could do better,” Justice said.
But Justice encouraged folks who are upset to first give them the benefit of the doubt.
“We have a large investment,” he said. “It has been a major project. We’ve gone to the well as much as we can, the well’s dry … so before you get really mad and stuff, just give us the benefit of the doubt and let us try to work things out.”
Other topics of discussion during Thursday’s meeting, as it related to the dog shelter, included:
- heat at the shelter (staff is working on obtaining 12 oscillating fans)
- Bittle said a generator for the facility will need to be donated. He said it would cost around $50,000 to $60,000.
- Tiffany Myer, a real estate broker, has been tapped by commissioners to find a tenant for space at the front of the new dog shelter. The space is unfinished.
To watch the discussion in its entirety, click the link below. The discussion starts at 23:35 and lasts through the end of the video.
https://www.facebook.com/ashlandcountyohio/videos/813216493794209