Muddled Animal Control Debate Continues At TDAC Committee Meeting

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The Trenton-Dade Animal Center (TDAC) Committee meeting on Aug. 5 raised questions about some important gaps in information, and not many decisions were made to move the project forward. No documents were attached to the online agenda, in part because the relevant documents are going through a round of edits with the attorneys.

Committee member Melissa Bradford (Lookout Mountain county commissioner) was absent from the meeting, but Bill Pullen (North Dade county commissioner) chose to attend even though he is not on the committee. Terry Powell (city parks and animal control commissioner) was present, but he did not answer or ask any questions or make any comments.

State Rep Mike Cameron also attended to listen, learn, and note that he has received blowback at the state level after the Trenton puppy mill bust. He said he is concerned about the safety of Audray Luck (Luck’s Rescue) and Monda Wooten (city street commissioner) as they go out and respond to cases. To the governments in general, he said, “I just want to see this get off your plate so you can get on to other things.”

Robin Rogers (county attorney) reported that he and the city’s attorney have met about the intergovernmental agreement (IGA), and they’re not seeing any major disagreements between the city and the county. The document is not yet ready to be voted on.

Bob Woods (South Dade county commissioner) noted that citizens continue to contact him with concerns about “county vs. city dynamics.” As has come up before, he explained that rural life out in the county has its own culture and expectations that differ from town life. Therefore, some citizens don’t want to see the city’s laws applied to the county.

Alex Case (City of Trenton mayor) noted that there are two different sets of ordinances. He didn’t say it, but what was implied is that the county commissioners can/should approve ordinances that are appropriate for the county and that address those citizens’ concerns.

Woods also noted that many citizens are asking him why the governments are building this building in the first place. He said, “Taxpayers don’t want any more tax monies put toward this project.”

Something Don Townsend (county executive) said later in the meeting applies here: “We’ve been calling Ann [Brown] and Monda for my entire 18.5 years with the county. There’s a group in Dade County that says we don’t have a problem. To the person that says that, I want to say, ‘Here’s your free pet, and we’ll bring two more next week.’”

As for the IGA, Rogers noted that it’s still unclear who will hold the license to be in charge of operating the facility. Currently, the city holds a license for the city-run dog pound. They did not reach a decision about who will be the license holder.

Townsend asked Wooten and Luck what role they want the TDAC board of directors to have. Because the attorneys must know this to complete the IGA.

Wooten couldn’t give a clear answer, but she said that other shelters take care of necessities (like food, housing, and some basic medical) while rescues do everything beyond that (like helping with adoptions and providing enrichment.)

Because this still didn’t tell Townsend what he needed to know, he said, “We can’t pass an IGA until we can figure out what’s in the IGA.” Robin then suggested that the TDAC board would make recommendations to both commissions as an advisory body.

After debate, the committee agreed that the TDAC board will be made up of two city commissioners, two county commissioners, one from the Friends of TDAC board (the nonprofit fundraising branch of the operation), one county citizen, and one city citizen. Wooten said (again) that she wants to be on the board.

Later in the meeting, the committee reported that Friends of TDAC is made up of Wooten, Luck, Jeff Mullis, Jimmy Stewart, and Ruth Smith.

Moving on to budgets, Townsend said, “We have no budget to go on, and that’s an impossible thing to determine.” While he said it’s well known that this building will cost the county money, he said we won’t know how much until it’s been operating for a year or two.

Wooten talked again about revenue streams through offerings like spay/neuter clinics. However, as the Sentinel reported before, other counties are not earning enough revenue through their operations to cover all of their animal control costs. (See the March 5 Sentinel.)

Townsend asked Wooten who handles the spay/neuter funds; is it the city or the Dade County Pet Project? Wooten seemed unable to directly answer the question but said instead that someone who spent thousands of dollars on a purebred dog shouldn’t qualify for low cost spay/neuter programs.

Case asked how many animals the Dade County Pet Project handles each week. Luck had to answer for Wooten, saying that an average week is about ten dogs and 15 cats. Doing some quick math based on spay/neuter fees, Case said that this could bring in over $2,000 per week and over $100,000 per year.

Case asked the commissioners what the funding split between the county and city should be. No one rushed to make a suggestion. Wooten firmly pressured for assistance from the county right now, before the TDAC building is built, because the city team is already handling many cases from the county.

Case reported that in July, the 911 center received 29 calls about animal complaints. Emily Richards (TDAC manager) and Luck said that the split is usually about 80-20 between the county and city: 80 percent of animal calls and cases are out in the county, while only 20 percent are in the city.

Case and Townsend both wondered if the IGA and ordinances could be approved soon so that enforcement could begin in a few months, rather than waiting until the building is up. Richards suggested passing an IGA that can work for now and be adjusted once the building is completed.

Of the law enforcement side of animal control, Major Tommy Bradford (Dade County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy) noted that taxpayers will be paying for six months of academy training for the DCSO animal control officer (via the DCSO budget). Presumably, the same will be true for the city taxpayers/officer. (No Trenton Police Department representative was there to comment.)

Bradford noted that both officers will be deputized and sworn in through the sheriff’s office so that the city officer can also respond to calls out in the county. The current plan is that both officers will hold normal hours Monday-Friday, and they will rotate being on call after hours (evenings and weekends).