State getting out of dog control

[bigdoglover]

The News Journal

By Angie Basiouny

The Kent County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has taken over dog control statewide, marking a major change in how the service is provided and leaving officials in all three Delaware counties worried about how they will pay for it in the future.

The state, which has spent millions of dollars in contracts for dog control since the 1960s, wants to ease away from that responsibility and shift it to the counties.

The state will continue to pay for the service this year, but probably will ask the counties to pony up part of the costs starting July 1, 2007. In three years, the counties could be on their own to figure out how to provide -- and pay for -- dog control.

"We said we will keep dogs for at least three years, but during that time we'll begin to reassess what the county roles are in this, and we'll see where it goes," said David Small, deputy secretary for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, which administers dog control and licensing.

The only immediate difference residents should notice is a new phone number to call when they need to report a stray or dangerous dog to be picked up, said Kent SPCA director Murrey Goldthwaite.

He said his staff is ready for the challenge of taking on statewide dog control. "We definitely will not have all the bugs worked out for the first couple of months," he said. "But there will be service."

Rumblings of the change began early last year, when the Delaware SPCA informed the state it would not apply in 2006 for the dog-control contract in New Castle and Sussex counties, a job the nonprofit organization has done for decades.

Wilmington residents will continue to have dog control handled by the Delaware SPCA, which is keeping a $220,000 state contract and two of its eight animal control officers to do the job.

Despite the yearlong notice from the organization, DNREC began looking in April for a vendor to step in statewide.

The only one to respond was the Kent County SPCA, which inked a $2.8 million deal with DNREC on June 14. The one-year contract expires July 1, 2007.

The state last month stepped back from Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's original plan to have counties pay for half the costs now because of the timing: New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties already have adopted budgets for the fiscal year that began Saturday, making it difficult for leaders to squeeze in dog control expenses.

"But there is consideration to looking to the counties beginning next fiscal year for a pro-rated share," Small said. He could not say what that amount would be.

Will renew contract

Small said DNREC is committed to renewing the contract with the Kent SPCA for the following two years, giving the organization a chance to establish a broad-based dog control program and recover startup costs.

It's an undertaking that Goldthwaite relishes.

"We wanted the contract because we thought it would be an opportunity to standardize procedures and hopefully keep it in the state instead of having an out-of-state agency come in and run it," Goldthwaite said. "The state is looking for a better system. It just seemed to be the right time, and we feel that we can do it."

Goldthwaite's group has experience running a statewide program. Two years ago, it signed a contract with the state Department of Public Health to conduct rabies control and suppression, which involves investigating bite cases to track whether the animal was inoculated against the disease.

But there is much work to be done with the transfer of duties.

Goldthwaite is hiring to expand his staff of four animal control officers to 18. He's buying more vehicles and equipment. And he's negotiating with private animal facilities for holding space until he can expand the kennel in Camden from 100 spaces to 160 spaces.

He's also negotiating with Sussex and New Castle counties to set up substations for animal control officers.

"It is a big change, and I think that's what's frightening everybody," Goldthwaite said. "We felt pressure when we took over the [rabies] contract. Everything stopped and changed directions. You had to gear up 110 percent. And that's what we're doing now."

Some residents said they don't mind the switch.

"I like the idea, as long as I can call somebody and get help," said Ruth Kelly, a Newark resident who lost her beloved poodle, Sassy, in 2004 when it was attacked by a larger dog in her neighborhood. "This is a small state, so I don't mind that Kent County will handle it."

The abrupt change has prompted concern among some county leaders about how they will cope with finding money in their budgets for dog control.

"If it's mandated, we will comply," said David Baker, Sussex County's finance director, who will become the county administrator in November. "We would work to incorporate the mandate into our budget for fiscal 2008."

New Castle County Chief Administrative Officer David Singleton said any unfunded mandate would be a burden on the county's budget, which is expected to have a deficit of $38 million by 2009.

He said county leaders have just begun discussing the possibility of paying for dog control. It's not clear yet how much it would cost each of the counties.

For now, however, Singleton isn't alarmed. He met recently with Goldthwaite and said residents have no reason to worry about the service.

"I believe county residents will be better served in the future under this new contract," he said.

Somebody had to do it

Delaware SPCA Director John Caldwell said his organization agreed to run dog control in New Castle and Sussex counties more than 35 years ago, mostly because nobody else would.

Its contract was $876,200 this year. Caldwell said it wasn't enough to cover the roughly 7,500 animal-control requests in the two counties.

"We basically got overwhelmed with stray dogs and stray cats," Caldwell said. "We could not keep up with the volume of calls. If we can't respond, then the public gets mad and very critical that we are not doing our job. We didn't have the staff to handle the number of complaints."

The main reason the Delaware SPCA doesn't want dog duty is not money but philosophy: The organization wants to return to its mission of cruelty investigations and prosecutions, pet adoption, humane education, and spay and neuter programs. The group is planning to build a $1 million pavilion to house spaying and neutering services on its property in Stanton.

"We really wanted to get away from the stigma of euthanizing thousands of animals based on the fact that we had this state contract," Caldwell said. "The SPCA isn't going anywhere. We've been here 133 years. We're just going back to our true mission."

Goldthwaite said he sees dog control as part of his mission.

"When you take in 10,000 animals a year, not all of them are going to be adopted. Not all of them can be adopted," he said. "You have an obligation. At least we're going to give them warmth and protection, love and dignity if they have to pass. It's not their fault."

Licensing ineffective

Caldwell thinks the counties ultimately will do a better job than the state in administering dog control programs. He points to the state's dog licensing fees as an example of ineffectiveness.

Revenues from licenses -- which cost $3 to $18 -- were supposed to help pay for dog control. But the revenue has been steadily declining each year because of a lack of enforcement, according to Small. This year, the state will work with the Kent County SPCA to shore up the program and bring in more money.

"We haven't had the manpower to aggressively market and/or enforce dogs without licenses," Small said. "We're hoping that with an expanded presence in the state, we'll see the downward trend going back up."

Fines for unlicensed dogs range from $50 to $500, depending on the type of license and time elapsed since the initial citation. Licenses are sold around the state at humane organizations, some pet stores and discount department stores, and some veterinarians.

The Delaware SPCA will continue to answer calls for sick, injured or trapped dogs or cats and requests for assistance from police or fire companies. The organization also has begun charging fees to people who bring stray cats to the shelters for adoption.

The fee for cats is $5; for a litter of kittens, it's $10. The organization is considering a $5 to $10 fee for stray dogs.

Caldwell said the fees are needed to help offset the loss of state money. However, the facility will have more room for animals to be adopted because less space will be filled by dogs brought in by animal control officers.

"We want to encourage the public after July 1 to bring in adoptable pets," he said.

.