Study Session- BOMA

Study Session- January 16th, 2025- Animal Control

On Thursday before the regular BOMA meeting there was a study session to discuss animal control in the city of White House. All board members were present. No one was signed up to speak for public comment.

City Administrator Herman began the session. The police receive calls on dogs at large and dog bites. Currently the city does not have animal control. Herman has 10 years experience managing animal control, both in Ohio and here in White House. The county generally has the responsibility of animal control. Both Robertson and Sumner Counties have animal control. The question right now is whether or not the city should have it. In Ohio, where Herman worked previously, the county charged a dog license fee. Cities also charge kennel fees and capture fees. Before 2010, White House has a full time animal control officer that drove around in a truck with a cage and picked up dogs. The truck he was in was not serviceable and the city had to purchase a new truck with a cage, along with a capture pole. Six months to a year later, the position was terminated due to budget cuts. The cage on the truck was sold, and the truck was given to the community affairs officer. This was in 2010. Where he was in OH, the population was 18-19k people, and they would call the county for animal control. Herman is open to having animal control again, but would like to lay out all of the issues, both good and bad. How does the city deal with vicious dogs, especially loading them into a truck? What is the best practice for self defense? Can they shoot an attacking dog? Mace? Tranquilizers? Herman was on a call where a man was bitten by his own spider monkey. There was blood everywhere when animal control arrived. The animal control officer shot it with a tranquilizer and they had to hold the monkey in a freezer until they could take it to a lab. Will they have to trap cats? What happens if they catch a skunk or a raccoon? What about shelter if the county shelters are closed for the weekend or the night? In OH they had outdoor shelters behind public works that really weren’t working. They spent $50k building a shelter. Who feeds and cares for the animals on the weekends while the animals are in custody? At this point they are looking at $70k for a truck, $2-3k in equipment and at least $100k in a shelter. Then they would have to decide if they need a full time and or a couple of part time animal control officers. Chief Brady can discuss the call volume

Brady- At this point, $70k is really low for a truck. The previous truck was expensive given the changes that needed to be made to accommodate the cage on the back. We are probably looking at $100k for the truck. The city no longer picks up dogs. They picked up a dog years ago, and it did $4k worth of damage to the car. It chewed up the wires for the radar and ruined the back seat. Here are the numbers of calls for the last three years.

2022- 1.3% of all calls were for animals. 126/9797, running at large was less than 3%

2023- 1.3% of all calls were for animals. 169/12873, running at large was less than 3%

2024- 1.7% of all calls were for animals. running at large was 4%

These calls cover everything from dog bites, welfare checks, deer in someone’s yard, loose horses, loose cows, a loose pig, and or a snake.

The police will respond to the calls, but last week in court, the only case that was brought before the bench was dismissed. We could require animals to be chipped and have the city buy a chip reader. We can’t put kennels in behind the police department, that would be problematic, we would need a shelter. This comes down to want versus need.

Mayor Corbitt asked what other cities do. Brady stated that Portland is discussing it too, but it is really expensive. Corbitt then stated it seems that the county should be covering it, but isn’t. Herman added that they will come for vicious dogs, but not running at large. Alderman Spicer asked about the current fine structure. Brady said that unless the officer sees the loose dog, they can’t site someone. It is then private prosecution and most of the time people don’t want to prosecute. Someone finally did, and the case was dismissed. Spicer asked if we could just get a truck and a shelter and have a police officer get the truck if needed. Brady said that the officer would need training, and Herman added that they would need policy on who was required to care for the animals. Corbitt stated that 170 calls were not enough for a full time animal control officer.

Alderman Wall asked what the percentage of calls for vicious dogs were. Brady did not pull that number. Alderman Matthews asked if there was private company that could handle this. Herman said there is, but only for varmints like raccoons. The police tell people to call the private companies. Matthews asked if the state has fee limits set. Herman said they do not. Corbitt added that we could not charge fees if we don’t offer services. Alderman Wall said that in Greenbrier certain dogs have to be registered and insured. Herman said that they could discuss that at the budget retreat. He then asked the board how many calls they have received. Wall hasn’t had a single call. Matthews said that he has had one vicious dog call and a few about barking. Herman said that if they put a shelter by the police department, they would get calls about barking. Brady added that fighting the social media would be tough too. Someone posted about horses being malnourished, they weren’t, but the damage was already done. Herman did say that the city is already allowed to respond to animal cruelty since that is in the ordinances.

Wall stated that this would be a 24/7 position. Corbitt asked what you do with a dog after 4-5 days. Herman stated that M-F the dog would be taken directly to the county shelter. The city shelter would be nights and weekends. Then we need to decide if we are going to trap cats, and what happens if we trap an animal that isn’t a cat. Wall said that in Nashville he had to trap the cats on his property and take them to the country himself.

Matthews asked if we could offer a low cost, subsidized obedience class to deal with behavior issues. Herman said they have never gotten into that. Corbitt added that this was a good dialogue, but they cannot hire a full time guy. He then asked for any citizen input. A woman spoke up and said that Hendersonville take the animals to Sumner Humane and then to the animal control shelter. The problem is Robertson County dispatch non emergency line tells citizens to call animal control. They are rude and tell citizens that they won’t come to the city. Sumner County refuses because of some old contract issue. Spicer added that if Sumner and Robertson County citizens are paying taxes, they deserve to be taken care of and should call their county reps. Brady said that the police will come out for vicious dogs. Herman said that he will dialogue with the counties and see what can be done. This isn’t solved, but they will be looking into some solutions.