More animal-control funding sought

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners have taken under advisement a series of recommendations aimed at improving the sheriff’s animal-control program.

Sheriff’s Lt. Bill McAuliffe said the recommendations are meant to balance the needs and expectations of taxpayers with accepted standards in the animal-care profession.

The county budgeted $1,000 for animal control in the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years, but the actual expenditures were $19,300 and $20,100, respectively. Another $1,000 was budgeted for 2009, but more than ten times that amount has already been expended, according to McAuliffe’s report to the commission.

“Every year we keep doing the same thing,” McAuliffe told commissioners on Tuesday.

Animal neglect and cruelty calls have risen over the years as more people come here and as the economy continues to darken.

“It’s probably going to get worse,” McAuliffe said, pointing out that the cost of hay has risen to $250 a ton, which is making it more difficult for horse owners to keep their animals properly nourished.

Animal boarding and vet care continue to top the list of expenses the county is incurring when people become unwilling or unable to care for their animals. Boarding cost the county about $8,000 in 2007 and more than $17,000 in 2008. Vet care ran about $7,000 in 2007 and 2008, the report said.

When horses or other large animals are seized because of neglect or cruelty, the county has no place to store the animals. The county is also required to take in dogs which aren’t accepted by the Panhandle Animal Shelter.

The sheriff’s office currently has one part-time employee assigned to animal control, although the employee is not a sworn deputy and can’t take legal action or conduct investigations. Animal problems tend to fall on the shoulders of patrol deputies, most of whom aren’t professionally trained to evaluate animals.

The sheriff’s office recommends commissioners recognize a recently formed advisory council and make use of the former Panhandle shelter site on Great Northern Road and inmate labor to help maintain it. McAuliffe said the former shelter site could also be used for storage of large animals.

Other recommendations include properly training and certifying two deputies for animal control duties, appointing a kennel manager, and acquiring two pickup trucks and a stock trailer.

“It probably needs to be budgeted properly and at the appropriate level,” Commission Chairman Joe Young said.

Tax watchdog Betty Kinne said irresponsible pet owners should be the ones held responsible for animal-control costs, not taxpayers. She also opposed widening another layer of government.

“You are already building a bureaucracy,” she said.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said the county has no choice but to provide animal control and pet owners can be held accountable for costs the county incurs. He added that no new staff or facilities are being sought.

“We’re just utilizing the positions and the facilities we already have,” he said.