Looking for new kennel site

The good dogs stay longest at the kennel, the dog warden says.

BY MAYSOON ABDELRASUL

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

HOWLAND — Trumbull County’s dog kennel is getting some maintenance work while organizations look into a new location.

Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda said the county’s maintenance department will do as much work as it can on the building on Anderson Avenue, Howland, adjacent to the county’s waste treatment plant.

The county crew would do the work so the county doesn’t spend money on an outside company. “We don’t want to spend money we don’t have to,” Fuda said.

Fuda said the county is still in limbo as to whether the kennel will have a new location.

Fuda said he has been receiving complaints that the dogs are not in a good environment. He said the county is listening to all the complaints and any ideas anybody has.

“We are taking ideas to make the dog pound the best it can be,” Fuda said.

The Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County is working with the county on different places where the dog kennel can be moved.

One idea that is that the kennel be at the Kent State University Trumbull Campus. The campus has a dog grooming class, and having a kennel there could work as a learning and training tool.

Current building’s problems

The current structure sits away from traffic and some distance from a residential area. Robert Campana, county dog warden, said people don’t know where the building is.

Its leaking roof has caused some problems for Campana, and the blocks need to be fixed as well, he said. Somebody hit the corner of the building with a car and there is a hole there.

Fuda said even if there is a new location, the repairs are beneficial to the county.

Campana wants more cages to hold more dogs; Fuda said the warden could fill out a form to request these.

There are about 30 dogs in the kennel at a time depending on how many come in, how many are adopted and how many have to be put down.

Last year there was a total of 1,087 dogs handled; 73 dogs were sold and 72 were returned to their owners. The rest were put down.

The records show that by the end of July this year, 635 dogs came into the kennel and 128 have already been adopted or returned.

Campana said the increase in dogs’ being adopted is due to Petfinder.com, a Web site where people can go to look for dogs. He said he puts the dogs on the site with their description and people can choose what dog they want.

He said he tries to do the best job he can but it is impossible to save every dog. “It is just a thankless job,” he said.

By law the dog warden must keep a stray dog for at least 72 hours before he does anything with it. Then, dogs are on a first-come, first-served basis. Campana said he can hold dogs for however long he wants to do — the good dogs stay longer.

“We’ve held them so long it is not even funny,” he said.