Commissioners met with Roby and Rotan officials during Monday’s county court meeting, continuing ongoing discussions regarding animal control efforts and considering the entities’ next steps toward solving the widespread animal control issues.
City officials have been grappling with longstanding issues related to stray animals for several years, particularly the surging population of dogs and incidents of dog bites and attacks. While several approaches have been made to address the issues, neither city has been able to establish a permanent animal control department.
Shortly after being appointed last July, former Fisher County Sheriff Simon Wade began working toward a solution at the county level. He called for community involvement, which resulted in a town hall meeting in January.
More than 30 concerned citizens, along with multiple public officials, turned out for the January meeting at the Fisher County Courthouse, and although Wade has since resigned, the makings of a plan were in motion, and officials have continued to work toward a solution.
Fisher County Commissioner Micah Evans was also present for the first public meeting and has since been working with officials from both cities, as well as those in neighboring cities with functioning animal control departments. Evans called for city council agreement last month in continuing those efforts, and city officials agreed in their willingness to establish a cooperative effort.
During Monday’s meeting, Evans said one of the next steps is to get everyone operating from the same set of regulations. He proposed that both Roby and Rotan city councils adopt animal control ordinances that mirror one another to make enforcement consistent.
Although generating controversy at the time, Rotan City officials reviewed and updated the city’s 1995 animal control ordinance in July, which expanded and improved existing animal control regulations. Roby City Mayor Eli Sepeda said that he had reviewed the Rotan ordinance but that the council has not yet discussed its adoption or any revisions to consider.
However, in addition to agreeing to consider sharing resources as well as operational expenses, the councils also agreed to swear in county deputies as city marshals. Evans explained that the intent will not be to utilize the sheriff’s department as a de facto animal control officers, deputies would be able to better lend assistance if they were also city marshals.
“In talking with other counties that dealing with this issue is the misuse of the sheriff’s department if they are marshallized for the cities,” said Evans.
He added that not only does the policy need to reflect that sheriff’s department involvement would be for animal control only and not enforcing all city ordinances, as well as outlining how city taxes would cover the expenses for when the department is utilized.
Fisher County Sheriff Tom Pohlman explained that as he has also looked into how the department could better provide assistance, he said a more longterm solution would be to re-establish a constable's office that could function as a liaison between county law enforcement and city administration and animal control officers.
Fisher County Clerk Pat Thompson informed officials that a previous court voted to absorb the constable duties years ago, and it would take an additional vote to reestablish the office. Additionally, a constable is an elected position that would require voter approval as well as a candidate to seek the office.
Officials are looking into what steps must be taken to reestablish the office, as well as other potential alternatives for effective oversight and accountability practices for the program. They are also looking into a location for animal control operations and what improvements need to be made to be compliant with state animal control laws.
Evans said he has a better idea of regulations as well as how programs could be structured, and the necessary funding, than he did in January. He said that successful program operators he spoke with consistently advised about how taking your time to ensure the program will have a strong first year is important to long-term success.
“What we are needing to move forward with, everything honestly, is a set amount on what each city could actually put forth towards animal control,” said Evans, “because that’s going to dictate what we’re actually capable of doing.”
Officials have long agreed that the most likely location to hold the animals is the old dog kennels the City of Rotan owns. However, Evans pointed out that while the facility is not in bad condition, it would need to be improved and better fortified for the overall health and security of the animals being held.
This would mean the expansion of the existing kennel to include more animals, which Evans said would include at least two additional kennels for quarantining ill or suspected ill animals.
When asked about the progress made, Mayor Sepeda said that he was working with a contractor that, while providing measurements of the area, had not provided estimates. Rotan City Administrator said that if Rotan’s Mayor, Zach Johnson, had received any estimates or had additional information she was unaware of it.
Evans said that since the facility has had security issues in the past where pet owners were simply cutting locks and releasing animals, in addition to the additional kennels, a perimeter fence would need to be installed as well as a secure storage area to keep animal vaccinations.
The facility could also utilize the local veterinarian to administer vaccines, however, this could prove cost-prohibitive in the long term. Evans said that the county is willing to lend financial assistance to get the program off the ground, he said the continued operations would fall largely on the cities, as animal control is primarily a problem in incorporated areas.
Thornton confirmed that Rotan’s newly appointed municipal judge was attending the required training at the time of Monday’s meeting and said she was confident Judge Haas would be willing to provide services for both cities regarding animal control citations. Evans said he would be contacting her before the next commissioners court meeting to confirm her willingness and asked city officials to discuss how animal control would fit into their respective budgets.
Mayor Sepeda said that while he was not prepared to speak on behalf of the council, he shared that in previous meetings, the council had discussed the possibility of providing an initial contribution of $10,000 combined with an annual $20,000 for operating expenses.
Although the Rotan City Council has not engaged in budget discussions regarding future animal control, Rotan has a small operating budget to cover expenses of part-time labor it has used in prior years. It is likely both city councils will have those discussions when they meet later this week.
Evans said he is hopeful county and city officials will be able to continue interlocal discussions when the court meets again next month ahead of annual budget workshops. More information will be shared about the ongoing animal control situation as progress continues.