Pet deposit opponents say it won’t work
By Kathleen Folkerth
DOWNTOWN AKRON — A proposal to require a deposit to adopt animals from the county shelter could result in fewer adoptions and more euthanizing of animals, according to members of local animal welfare organizations who spoke against it during a Summit County Council committee meeting May 8.
The ordinance, proposed by Summit
County Executive James McCarthy’s office, would
require a refundable deposit of $50 for cats and $75
for dogs be paid, in addition
to the county adoption fee of $27 for cats and $40 for
dogs, when an animal is adopted from the Summit County
Animal Control agency shelter. The deposit would be
refunded when proof that the animal has been spayed
or neutered is provided to the shelter director, according
to the legislation.
“All this legislation is
to do is encourage people to spay and neuter their pets,”
said Stephen Dyer, staff attorney for the executive’s
office, during the Rules Committee meeting.
But Heather Nagel, who operates
animal rescue group Heaven Can Wait, said the legislation
would not be effective.
“This is absurd and ludicrous,”
Nagel told the committee. “It’s not going
to work.”
Nagel said having to put up the
additional money will discourage
people from going to the shelter for animals of questionable
health when they can get a vet-treated animal from a
rescue group for a reasonable fee. Nagel said her organization’s
fees for adoption are $90 for cats and $150 for dogs.
Included in that amount are a vet checkup, vaccinations
and sterilization. She added the prices are similar
with other rescue groups.
Conversely, animals adopted from
the county shelter have not been checked by a veterinarian,
nor do they receive any shots or sterilization, she
said.
“People are paying $40
[for a dog] and getting nothing,” Nagel said.
“This is going to hinder animals getting out of
the facility.”
The legislation as written does
not give a timeline for how long it would take the county
to refund the deposit.
“A lot of people cannot
afford to wait 90 days or 180 days to get a refund,”
said Michael Toth, of West Akron pet store One of a
Kind Pets, which takes animals from the shelter.
The legislation also does not
give any kind of exemption to rescue groups who routinely
take dogs and cats from the shelter, Toth noted.
He added that encouraging spaying
and neutering is a good idea, but the county should
become involved in efforts to have current pet owners
get the procedure for their pets.
“The spirit is laudable,
but the measure only scratches the surface,” Toth
said.
Conditions and policies at the
animal shelter have been questioned for more than two
years. In 2004, the National Animal Control
Association (NACA) visited the
shelter and issued a report with more than 100 recommendations
for improvements. Council recently requested the organization
return to update its assessment.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed
director of the facility, Christine Congrove, has come
under fire because her only prior animal control experience
was as secretary under fired director Glenn James. Congrove,
23, is also the daughter of County Council member Dan
Congrove (D-District 6).
Dyer, speaking on behalf of McCarthy’s
office, defended the deposit proposal. He said the deposit
money would be kept the same way the county currently
handles deposits for animal traps.
“That may not be as efficient
as people want, but so be it,” he said. “I
just don’t understand
the fight here.”
Council member Michael Callahan
(R-at large) said the legislation could create “a
bureaucratic snafu.”
“I just think it’s
unworkable,” he said.
He asked Dyer to have the executive’s
office rework the proposal and look into alternatives.
Pete Crossland (D-District 4)
agreed.
“I’d challenge you
to come up with a proposal for county-sponsored spay
and neuter clinics,” Crossland said.
The committee agreed to keep
the legislation on time.
During council’s Finance
Committee meeting, members discussed a proposed $100,000
grant to the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce with
its president, Daniel Colantone.
At the May 1 council
meeting, John Wagner, of the AFL-CIO,
asked council to deny the grant based on assertions
that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is behind a campaign
to discredit labor unions. An organization called UnionFacts.com
is said to be behind the campaign, which included advertisements
in the Washington Post and New York Times earlier this
year.
Colantone told the committee
he has seen the ads.
“I was appalled, frankly,”
he said.
He said the Greater Akron Chamber
dropped its membership in the national group “immediately.”
Regarding the grant, which last
year was initially denied and then approved at $50,000,
Colantone said the money would go toward the chamber’s
economic development fund.
“Every dollar used goes
into jobs and capital investment,” Colantone said.
The committee opted to keep the
legislation on time.
Also Monday, the Public Safety
Committee recommended approval of an ordinance amending
the county’s cold medication restrictions, meant
to restrict the sale of medications containing pseudoephedrine,
which is often used in illegal drug manufacturing. The
amended ordinance brings the county’s law in line
with the recently adopted state law.
Summit County Council is scheduled
to meet May 15 at 5:30 p.m. for caucus and 6 p.m. for
the council meeting in council chambers on the seventh
floor of the Ohio Building, 175 S. Main St.
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