There are going to be some policy changes at the Hough Dement Animal Shelter.
During last week’s board of aldermen meeting, Mayor Ken Featherstone outlined a number of changes that will be taking place to try and improve operations at the shelter.
Featherstone said that each animal that is brought to the shelter will undergo a physical examination, and a profile history will be created.
Each animal will be issued an ID.
“All animals should be given a unique identifier,” Featherstone said. “I’m not certain if that’s being done, but moving forward, it will be.”
Featherstone stressed the need to keep good records on cats and dogs at the shelter and to try and control the pet population there.
“There are times when we can’t take anymore animals, because we’re at full capacity. At that point, the intake process is halted,” he said.
Featherstone said that any person wanting to adopt a dog or cat from the shelter will need to fill out a form of intent. They will be given a brief summary of the animal’s history.
Payment for the adoption will be made at city hall.
“There cannot be and should not be any money changing hands out at the animal shelter,” Featherstone said. “We’ve had some issues with that. That’s going to stop.”
When animals are transferred outside of the city, Featherstone said there must be an accurate travelogue kept.
Featherstone said that under no circumstances is a shelter employee to transport an animal that has not previously been in the care of the shelter.
“We’re going to stop that,” Featherstone said.
Ward 3 Alderman Ruben Woods asked about the policy regarding vicous dogs.
City Attorney Kimberly Merchant said the time limit to keep a vicous dog is five days.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi recommended establishing a time limit on how long the shelter may keep animals.
“The reason we are full all of the time is that we don’t have a time limit,” he said.
Fratesi said that a time limit needs to be set, and once that is met, the animal should be shipped to another facility or euthanized.
“That’s why we can’t pick up dogs,” Fratesi said.
Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder praised the new plan, particularly when it comes to reducing the vet bills for the shelter.
Featherstone said that he plans to limit the number of animals that can be treated within a 30-day period to try to reduce runaway vet invoices.
