Facing constant political pressure at public meetings designed to deal with taxes or jobs, DeKalb County is making slow but steady strides to better its animal shelter and how it handles stray and unwanted pets.
The county expects at least seven of 10 new animal control officers to be on the job in June. A temporary air conditioning unit is keeping the run-down shelter at Memorial Drive and Camp Circle cool until a more permanent replacement can be put in this summer. And officials are still weighing three county-owned sites for a new facility.
But residents behind the push for changes insist they will keep the heat on in this election year, especially since the department isn’t likely to have a new shelter for at least another 18 months and the department director is just weeks away from retirement.
“It just feels like we're moving too slowly,” said Pat Camp, who has helped make other residents aware of the problems. “We have concerns that the priorities laid out in the [citizens task force] report are not being addressed properly.”
DeKalb is spending $2.76 million on animal control services this year, down from $3.14 million in 2011 but more than the $2.3 million budget in neighboring Gwinnett County this year.
Gwinnett, too, is facing a citizen task force pushing for changes to increase adoptions and reduce the number of animals euthanized.
But DeKalb’s task force report was especially damning, calling the county-run shelter a “chamber of horrors” where humans and animals alike suffered from bug infestations and mold.
Those conditions contributed to a 60 percent euthanasia rate in DeKalb, which is similar to that of other metro counties. But the price tag for that work is $1.75 million, more than eight times the $210,000 taxpayers spend to adopt the animals or reunite them with owners.
DeKalb’s report called for a new shelter, a $2-to-$8 million cost the county doesn’t have in its budget, even if it uses one of the three county-owned properties now under consideration.
Instead, the county has focused on smaller ticket items that it can tackle faster. Among them: approving the spending of $365,000 in rainy day funds to install a new air conditioning unit at the aging shelter and up to $500,000 for 10 new animal control officers, which brings the current 17-officer department back to its 2010 levels.
The county already began extending the shelter's evening hours during the week. Once those new officers are on duty this summer, the shelter will offer Sunday hours, another recommendation from the task force.
“I didn’t know how important that was, but we heard from so many people that Sunday is one of the only days people who work can get to the shelter to adopt,” Public Safety Director William Z. Miller said. “We are very actively trying to make these changes.”
First-quarter statistics bear out those efforts, revealing just 36 percent of animals taken into the county shelter were euthanized in the first three months of the year. That means after euthanizing about 5,000 animals a year for the past several years, DeKalb is on pace to cut that figure in half in 2012.
“I’m proud to see that there is so much care for the animals of DeKalb County,” said Michael Chapman, a Druid Hills resident who works with the Briarcliff Animal Foundation to get stray animals veterinary care. “I’ve lived on a budget myself, so I understand the county’s concerns.”
Still, some concerns extend beyond the money, such as Kathy Mooneyham’s retirement as Animal Services Director at the end of July.
The task force recommends using that timing to outsource the department’s operations, a process now out for bid. But some advocates complained that the review still leaves too much of operations to the county’s police department, which now oversees the office.
County CEO Burrell Ellis said police will still be needed to handle field operations, especially since they are the first to respond to calls of animal bites or attacks. But he said he is committed to making real changes, even if some residents aren't happy with the speed.
"We've got a lot of moving pieces at the same time," Ellis said. "At some point, we will get to where we are ahead, but we're not there yet."
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