Liam, a tabby kitten, is one of the 733 animals that were housed in the Bartholomew County Humane Society’s animal shelter in the first nine months of this year.
A meeting with the potential to help the Bartholomew County Humane Society enact its first-ever strategic plan is expected to take place this month.
On Nov. 14, representatives of the Humane Society will meet with the Bartholomew County Commissioners primarily for the purpose of updating the organization’s contract with the county.
Contract updates should be based on data collection, with updated language reflecting the actual working relationship the society has with the commissioners and animal control officers, Humane Society shelter director Kirsten VantWoud said.
Smaller incorporated towns such as Hope will also be asked to approve similar contractual changes, she added.
The county commissioners will increase the amount they provide the Humane Society for housing and caring for stray domestic animals from $94,474 to $125,000 next year.
While expressing gratitude for the increase, VantWoud said her organization had requested $178,505. Although she didn’t expect to get everything requested, VantWoud said statistics show the shelter is in such a crisis that the requested 89% jump in support was not unwarranted.
“At this time, we don’t have any open dog or cat cages,” VantWoud said. “We have seen a vast reduction in the number of animals that are reclaimed. We should be slowing down this time of the year. We don’t have a lot of adoptions. It’s putting a real burden on the staff, our capacity of care and our finances.”
VantWoud and Humane Society board vice-president Elizabeth James also thanked the commissioners for providing what the shelter director called “definite wins” after approving restrictions last year on large-scale dog breeding kennels, as well as trap and release programs for feral cats.
But contract language updates are just the beginning. On Nov.14, the Humane Society group will request a future meeting when the two parties can discuss updating the county animal control ordinance, James said.
“The current county ordinance has not been substantively updated in about 44 years,” VantWoud said. “It’s reasonable to think that animal advocacy has improved during that time.”
The creation of clear definitions of specific words such as ‘tether’ and ‘shelter’ would be the first order of business, James said.
“Right now, folks can’t even speak the same language,” she said. “We aren’t doing our animal control officers any favors when they go on calls.”
One suggestion the commissioners may be asked to consider is the reestablishment of an commission or board that deals with animal care. Before it was dissolved in late 1998, the Bartholomew County Animal Control Board acted as a liaison between the citizens, county animal control officers and the commissioners. According to published accounts, the board was intended to “provide private citizen representation as a forum to ensure the equitable enforcement of animal control regulations.”
But if a commission is reestablished, it should have veterinarians and other knowledgeable individuals concerned with animal welfare, as well as animal control, James said.
While animal control refers to the impoundment and care of animals found at large or surrendered to a shelter, animal welfare calls for providing for a dog or cat’s physical and mental needs.
“That’s something the shelter wants to be vocal on,” James said. “I think we are really wanting continuity across the board between the city ordinance and the county ordinance”.
The city ordinance provides very specific standards regarding animal tethering, shelters for outdoor dogs and responses to weather extremes. A request for identical city/county animal control ordinances has been sought by an animal advocacy group called “Change 4 Bartholomew County”.
However, the concept has not been warmly received to date, which prompted animal advocates to express their displeasure with the commissioners and Animal Control Officer Mark Case.
While the animal advocates’ Facebook page has remained cordial and informational since last summer, comments left earlier this year appeared antagonistic toward the commissioners and Case.
But harsh words from animal advocates on social media should be expected, James said.
“It may be emotional and loud from time to time, but I think what the animal advocacy groups are trying to communicate is that animal welfare is a very important issue to them,” James said.
“I think the commissioners can choose to be agitated by this, or they can listen to constituents and acknowledge that ‘companion animal welfare’ is at the core of what the community wants to see improved,” VanWoud added.
What animal advocates and the Humane Society are seeking is nothing more than best practices developed for animal shelters over the past few decades, VanWoud says. Broken down into what is called the ‘Five Freedoms’, VanWoud says the following practices are now globally recognized as the gold standard in animal welfare.
- Freedom from hunger and thirst
- Freedom from discomfort
- Freedom from pain, injury and disease
- Freedom to express normal and natural behavior
- Freedom from fear and distress.
“Those are what we take into account (at the Humane Society’s shelter), and what the public who support us expect,” VanWoud said. “We’re trying to change the lens from which they look at animal welfare.”
But seeing another point of view is a two-way street. When the animal welfare topic was recently brought up, commissioner’s Chairman Carl Lienhoop pointed out the county doesn’t have adequate staff to carry out provisions in the city’s animal control ordinance. The city’s website lists 11 employees working for Columbus Animal Care Services, while Bartholomew County Animal Control has one full-time employee and two who work on a part-time basis.
County government has expenses the city does not have that include maintaining the sheriff’s department, the county jail, the county courthouse, court services and two divisions of the health department, Lienhoop said. In addition, the county is responsible for maintaining over 700 miles of roads, as well as all bridges in Bartholomew County not under the control of the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Last month, Change 4 Bartholomew County spokeswoman Saundra Bush suggested to the county council that the Sheriff’s Department should consider taking over animal control and animal welfare responsibilities, so they can be handled on a 24/7 basis.
But on Friday, Chief Deputy Sheriff Maj. Chris Lane said his department does not have the staff necessary to do what Bush suggested.
“There’s just no way,” said Lane, who is running unopposed in the election to succeed Matt Meyers as Bartholomew County Sheriff on Jan. 1.
But VanWoud said a new committee or commission can step-by-step come up with ways of promoting both animal care and animal welfare that “will not have a huge fiscal impact”, as well as provide animal control officers with tools needed to encourage others to be more responsible and humane to their animals.
“We believe the changes we seek are practical and data-based,” the shelter director said.
Shelter numbers grown
Statistics regarding animal population at the Bartholomew County Humane Society’s animal shelter:
2021: 898 animals housed by the Humane Society. 50% of all animals were brought in by Bartholomew County Animal Control officers.
2022: 733 animals housed from January through September. At this rate, 977 animals can be expected by the end of the year. 40% of animals (296) were brought in by Bartholomew County Animal Control officers.
Average cost per animal: $398 (medical needs, food, daily care, sterilization surgery, microchip, etc.)
