Numbers speak volumes for success of Holmes County dog warden’s office

  • By Dave Mast
  • January 14, 2010
  • 629
                        
Promising trends across the board highlighted a solid year for the Holmes County dog warden’s office, including a major drop in the number of dogs which were euthanized. Regan Tetrault, Holmes County dog warden, met with Holmes County commissioners to talk about the good year and the prospects of an even better 2010. “The numbers are a lot better than the year before, and we made a lot of significant changes,” Tetrault told the commissioners. “I think the number we’re most pleased with is the number of dogs euthanized. We went from 169 to 72. Our goal for the coming year is to reduce that 72 by half. I really think it feasible.” Tetrault said that of the dogs euthanized, 25 were aggressive, and had to be put down, noting that issue is one on which she will not budge. Twenty-four of the dogs were pit bulls, and while they try to adopt the pit bulls out, it is a difficult task given the perceived demeanor of the dog. She said that she currently does not have a quality pit bull rescue facility to take the dogs so they must be euthanized. Tetrault said her staff is currently working on finding a good, reliable pit bull contact which will be available to take the dogs. “We probably had 30 pit bulls all year, and were successfully able to adopt out a handful of them, but it is difficult,” said Tetrault. “But when the market is flooded with them, it is difficult to get someone to take yours, no matter how good of a dog they are.” As for the overall picture of adopting dogs out from the dog pound, in 2008, the office impounded 655 dogs, and was able to adopt out 339 of them, which means they found homes for 52 percent of the dogs impounded. This past year, a total of 454 dogs were impounded, with 284 finding homes, which is an increase of 10 percent. Owners reclaimed 131 dogs in 2008, while 98 were reclaimed in 2009. There were a total of only 10 dog bites reported in the county in 2009, compared to 24 the year before. That means that 84 percent of the dogs impounded in 2009 were not euthanized, a huge jump from the 72 percent in 2008. “The numbers make it a very good year for us, but I think we can do even better,” said Tetrault. “Our goals for 2010 are aggressive but they are feasible. The entire staff is committed to doing our best to meet that goal, but we are going to have to have the help and support of the people of Holmes County to do so.” The county also implemented the Dog Safety Program, which Tetrault said has been a huge success at Lakeville, Clark, Wise and Nashville elementary schools. In addition, several Scout troops, 4-H clubs and home school groups have had the office come in and talk to kids about how to safely act around strange dogs. The program is free to any community group or school wishing to promote dog safety. “It’s been a valuable tool in educating the youth of Holmes County on safety around dogs,” said Tetrault, noting the decrease in the number of dog bites reported. Commissioner Joe Miller, on behalf of the board of commissioners, congratulated Tetrault and her staff on the job they did this year. He also noted that he hopes people wishing to adopt a dog will truly consider the dog pound before purchasing one new. “We’ve got some good dogs here which would be good pets,” said Miller. “I hope people take the time to look into adopting one before buying one elsewhere.” However good the year was, one major incident did mar the joy of all of the positive statistics. Tetrault said that the dog warden’s office had to respond to an incident on Nov. 16, in which 16 sheep at a local dairy farm were killed by two dogs, presumably a pair of black Labrador retrievers. She said that the dogs dug into an enclosed area where the sheep were and attacked and killed 16 sheep, almost all of them young lambs. “The dogs dug under doors and when they attacked, they attacked only the lambs,” said Tetrault. “There were hundreds of sheep inside, and the dogs only went after the young ones.” While Tetrault believes the dogs in question were neighboring to the farm where the attack took place, there is no solid evidence that they were absolutely the dogs which performed the killings, thus, there is no way the county can pursue any further actions against the dogs or the owner. She did say that one of the dogs returned to the home, while one has not been seen since. “While we have our suspicions, there simply isn’t any hard-core proof that these dogs did it,” said Tetrault. “Because we can’t prove that these dogs were guilty of this, (the dog warden’s office) has to pay for the cost of the sheep.” The cost of replacing the sheep is listed at $1,771.20.


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