Animal control plan implemented

SANDPOINT — Bonner County finally has a long-term — and less costly — plan in place to deal with neglected and abused animals seized in criminal cases.

Commissioners voted in unison Tuesday to purchase equipment and restore the former Panhandle Animal Shelter on Great Northern Road so it can be used to board horses and dogs that are impounded under state or local codes.

The board agreed to spend $18,625 to purchase a horse trailer, corral panels and fencing supplies. The expenditure also covers feed and other maintenance items needed to press the former shelter back into service.

“This gives us a good operational base,” sheriff’s Lt. Bill McAuliffe told commissioners.

The facility will be staffed with inmate labor and supervised by a sheriff’s lieutenant.

“This uses the staff that we have,” said Commissioner Cornel Rasor.

It will not be open to the public and is not intended to be a drop-off point for people to leave unwanted pets, county officials emphasize.

The county has traditionally budgeted only $1,000 annually for animal control, but spent 20 times that amount in 2007 and 2008, largely due to the costs involved with boarding and caring for horses seized in cruelty cases.

The county spent $19,300 in 2007 and $20,100 on boarding and veterinary costs in neglect cases, according to sheriff’s officials.

Commissioners shifted additional animal control funding into the general justice fund, but held off on boosting the line item in the sheriff’s budget until the plan and its costs became more definitive.

An animal control advisory board recommended the county restore the former shelter as a fully-staffed facility that euthanizes unwanted cats and dogs. It would contrast with the new Panhandle Animal Shelter in Ponderay, which is a no-kill facility that has no ties to the county other than a contract to hold impounded dogs for a fee.

Commissioners, however, passed on that recommendation.

“We are not creating a county animal shelter,” commission Chairman Joe Young said after Tuesday’s meeting.

The animal control operations plan involves working with the Panhandle Animal Shelter to find homes for impounded dogs deemed fit for adoption. The plan also enables a veterinarian to put down an abused or neglected dog or horse that’s too far gone to be saved.

The sheriff’s office would handle seized horses suitable for adoption.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said his office has so far spent about half of the $1,000 that was budgeted for the current fiscal year, mostly on Panhandle Animal Shelter impound fees.

Officials believe the mild winter staved off horse seizures this year.

The new animal control plan is fiscally responsible and serves as a solid foundation for containing future animal control costs, said Wheeler.

“I’m thrilled that we came to this conclusion and that we’re going to be able to open up,” said Wheeler, who began grappling with funding crisis shortly after taking office last year.

It remains unclear how much funding will be needed in next year’s budget to sustain the plan now that some of the startup costs are sorted out.

“We’re actually doing our preliminary budgets right now,” Wheeler said.