![]() Luttmann said Animal Control’s success in criminal prosecutions is virtually 100 percent. Those cases are investigated and documented by animal control officers and the staff veterinarian, then turned over to the Kent County prosecutor. They handle about 6,000 complaints a year, ranging from dogs at large to animal neglect and cruelty cases. Luttmann and the seven animal control officers at the shelter are special deputies of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, and there are usually four or five of their trucks working all over the county on a given weekday. Hence, all dog licenses require the dog is up to date on state-mandated rabies shots. Laws mandate protection of the domestic animal population from abuse and other health risks associated with humans, and laws also protect the human population from disease and injury associated with animals. As a division of the Kent County Health Department, it is the public safety and law enforcement agency responsible for animal control. There is also a microchip inserted under the skin of each dog and cat, with a lifetime registration at one of the online organizations that stores the owner’s contact information.Īdoptions are just one part of what KCAS does. First, there is the fee for staff time spent on adoptions then there is a license fee for dogs, and every animal must be spayed or neutered prior to adoption. In adoption fees, “we break everything down based on what we put into it,” said Luttmann. No license is required to own a cat, rabies shots aren’t required, and there is no law against allowing a cat to roam. The cost to adopt a cat can range from $5 to $40, according to Luttmann, and for a dog it is $80 to $143. On average, 75 adoptions are completed each month, but in November there were 118. For working people who cannot make it in during the week, the shelter will hold four special adoption Saturdays per year.īut the big news this fall has been “Home for the Holidays”: Through November and December, fees for adoption of dogs and cats have been waived, thanks to a large grant from the Bissell Pet Foundation in Walker.īased on data compiled by KCAS, adoptions at the shelter increased in November by 57 percent as a result of the promotion. weekdays, it appears more dogs and cats are adopted in the extra weekday hours than was happening in the Saturday morning hours. ![]() About $1.25 million or more of its annual budget of $1.9 million comes from the county general fund, so the shelter management tries to run it like a business - albeit a complicated, public-service business.Ĭarly Luttmann, program supervisor at KCAS, and her staff are experimenting with extended hours on weekdays, in exchange for eliminating Saturday morning hours. It is largely funded by the taxpayers of Kent County. On the surface, the Kent County Animal Shelter seems to be mainly about dogs and cats, but it is really a business that revolves around people and their relationship with animals.
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