93% of Trumbull pound dogs killed, critic says

The dog warden says he has used a first-come, first-served policy for many years.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — A Portage County woman complained to Trumbull County commissioners Wednesday that her organization has met with resistance from dog warden Bob Campana in its efforts to save dogs from being euthanized.

Sandra Paris told commissioners that her statistics indicate that 93 percent of the dogs that enter the county dog pound on Anderson Avenue in Howland are euthanized — a number that is more than double the state average.

She said this is one of the reasons that members of her group, Friends of the Trumbull County Dog Pound, believe the facility is among the worst in the state.

Paris said the dog warden’s staff called Howland police about her and another group member Friday, after a confrontation with the dog warden’s staff when they were denied access to dogs they wanted to photograph to put on the Web site petfinder.com. No charges were filed.

Paris told commissioners she felt her organization could help Campana reduce the number of euthanized animals if it could help Campana “market” the dogs better.

Looking into improvements

Commissioner Frank Fuda said he and the other commissioners have been trying for several months to make improvements at the facility, including discussing moving the facility to a new location.

County officials, including personnel director James Keating, Commissioner Dan Polivka and Campana have made visits to dog pounds in other counties looking for ideas to improve the local facility, Fuda said.

As a result of information they gathered, county officials posted some new rules at the facility at the end of July, Fuda said. Two of the new rules spell out the method by which members of Paris’ group and others can photograph dogs for use on the Web site.

Another sets the policy by which dogs can be held at the dog pound instead of being euthanized. The policy says animals “may be held” for more than the statutory requirement of three days if arrangements have been made with the dog warden for pickup within a reasonable time.

Paris’ response

Paris said she believes she followed the rules regarding the photographs but was asked to leave anyway. Fuda said one of the women was ordered to leave because she was standing on a trash bin taking pictures of its contents and could have been injured.

Paris said Campana has been unwilling to hold dogs for her, which makes it impossible for her organization to help with dog “rescues” for people using petfinder.com. At most dog pounds, she said, officials are willing to hold an animal for such groups so they can travel to the pound with reasonable certainty that the animal will be there when they arrive.

Campana told county commissioners Wednesday he established a policy years ago of giving or selling the animals on a first-come, first-served basis, not holding them.

runyan@vindy.com