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Commissioners, AWL struggle over new dog pound funding
By Jordan Cohen
WARREN
For nearly eight years, Trumbull County commissioners and the Animal Welfare League have struggled with finding a mutually acceptable solution for closing the county’s dog pound and operating a new one at the league shelter in Vienna Township.
A meeting Tuesday made it clear the two sides still are struggling.
One obstacle is a dispute over the amount of money the AWL says it needs and what the county says it can afford. The commissioners argued that they have not seen specific costs from AWL in two years and what they have gotten are estimates based on amounts spent on a facility in Warren County.
“I don’t want to see the county spend a lot of money,” said Commissioner Frank Fuda. “It’s got to be a reasonable amount.”
“It’s like you’re finding reasons why we’re not doing this,” said Nancy Jastatt Juergens, an AWL board member.
The county and league had signed a memorandum of understanding several years ago to replace the current dog pound on Anderson Avenue, which has been the subject of numerous complaints by the league and animal-rights activists. Nothing much in the way of progress for the transition has happened since.
The league’s shelter opened in June 2014 and has been funded entirely by donors who have invested more than $3 million, Juergens said.
Jim Misocky, special projects administrator, said the county had previously offered $150,000 to the league for the new facility and $6,500 per month to help defray operating expenses. That’s not enough, said the AWL board members.
“Warren County spends $230,000 a year, [and] that’s a big difference from $6,500 a month,” countered Juergens – who blasted the current dog pound for its euthanizing procedures, which she called “negligent and borderline criminal.
“The animals are suffering a little less than they used to, but they’re still suffering,” she said.
Board members said the AWL shelter already has the “bricks, blocks and mortar” in place and 23,000 square feet available for the pound to be constructed, but they warned against settling on a facility that may turn out to be inadequate.
“If we shortchange ... and have a facility too small to admit all the animals, euthanasia rates will skyrocket,” warned Dr. Jeff Williams, a veterinarian and board president. Williams said that the national spending average by county governments “for a humane facility is $4 to $8 per capita,” he said.
Revenue from dog licenses, around $450,000 per year, funds the dog pound, an amount below the per-capita figures that Williams cited.
“We can’t do something we can’t afford,” Fuda said. “Your price is way beyond what we can do.”
Commissioner complaints that actual cost estimates had yet to be provided by the league found a sympathetic ear.
“We need to get bids and then come up with creative financing,” said Atty. Ned Gold with the AWL. Gold suggested a possible bond issue, but Misocky said he doubted the legality of such a move.
The county dog warden, whose position is mandated by state law, would have to be retained, but the fate of four pound employees who are governed by union collective-bargaining agreements would have to be negotiated before the transition.
The two sides have agreed to meet again Sept. 15 when the league is expected to produce bids detailing specific costs for a new pound.