(VIDEOS SHANKLE, CREIGHTON, BERNABEI - PRESS CONFERENCE) COMMISSIONERS GET HIT WITH A BARAGE OF CRITICISMS ON CONDITIONS AT STARK COUNTY DOG POUND!

For several years the SCPR has been publishing blogs about the vociferous and vigorous complaints by some activist Stark County dog lovers (Activists) on conditions at the Stark County Dog Pound (Pound).

The complainers - for the most part - are volunteers at the Pound who recount eye witness incident after incident after incident of what they allege to be abusive treatment of dogs who land at the Pound.

In late 2009, the outcry got so marked that the then commissioners were forced to act.  In early 2010 the fired Warden Evert Gibson and replaced him in May, 2010 with former Holmes County Dog Warden Reagan Tetreault who still is Stark's dog warden.

On December 26, 2010, yours truly did a blog who described the transition thusly:

On January 27, 2010 (nearly one year ago), Stark County commissioners (Bosley, Ferguson and Meeks) fired Evert Gibson as dog warden because of unresolved problems.  Gibson had been on the job for several years.

After some controversy between the commissioners and members of the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (SCDPAB) over the appearance of a non-SCDPAB recommended person as one of five finalists, the current warden Reagan Tetreault (on the list) was appointed (May 5, 2010) with a starting date of May 24, 2010 subject however to a 120 probationary period.

Ever since there has been simmering discontent among much of the Activists community with the management style of Tetreault.

Commissioners have been aware of the rumblings and have been trying to keep a lid on it.

But at yesterday's regular weekly meeting of the Stark commissioners the lid exploded off  "the can of worms" which The Report believes descriptive of the mishmash of turmoil afflicting Pound operations.

EXHIBIT 1

A video of Stark County citizen Ellen Shankle, (a former volunteer at the Pound and, according to a source, a former board member of the Friends of the Pound [Stark County], who was the primary complainer at yesterday's meeting, to wit:



EXHIBIT 2


On August 21, 2011 the SCPR did a blog that is an extensive review of the longstanding grievances of SCDPAB with Stark commissioners going back beyond the current board.  Click anywhere on this paragraph to link to the prior blog.

EXHIBIT 3


The story of Roxy who on October 13, 2010 through a series of errors was euthanized at the Stark County Dog Pound to the horror of his owner family.  Click anywhere in this paragraph to link to the Roxy blog.

EXHIBIT 4 (See videos below)

THE COMMISSIONERS RESPONSE

The  SCPR's impression is that yesterday's outburst was a surprise to them.

Apparently, they did not see this coming.  But The Report believes that they should have in light of what is going on with Canton City Council with its mulling over as to whether or not to continue with its present program of animal control of trapping wild animals (mostly cats) and then having them euthanized.

Opponents to the current program have besieged council with demands that policy be changed to TNR (trap-neuter-return).

The focal point of the TRN advocates cause is a viral YouTube video showing Canton Animal Control Officer Phil Sedlacko (also an employee of the Stark County Dog Pound) and his handling of a dog which he had captured.

The commissioners did hold a press conference after the presentation of Ms. Shankle and two other citizens.

In the main the response was:

• we have been working on this problem and will continue to do so until it is remedied,
• we are sending Chief Administrator Mike Hanke to spend the day (Friday, February 24) at the pound to get a first hand take on the situation of the Pound,
• we will hold public work sessions with dog warden to get to the bottom of problems,
• we deem the Pound in important concern, but it is not our top priority.

Noteworthy on the last bullet point are the remarks of Janet Creighton, to wit:



One would think that Commissioner Tom Bernabei would especially be interested in zeroing in or solving the festering SCDP problem inasmuch as he is up for re-election in November.

The SCPR could see this Republican opponent Craig T. Conley (who in the view of The Report has little else to pounce on Bernabei about) using this issue as a difference maker as to who gets elected.

In any event, to yours truly, it is high time that the commissioners (with the sales tax increase having been passed and the county budget having been completed) move to resolve the seemingly eternal Pound problems to the top of their list and getting a resolution "once and for all!"

Here is the video on the press conference.

(VIDEO) IT BEEN AWHILE SINCE THE SCPR VISITED THE STARK CO. DOG POUND ISSUE. AND IT SEEMS THAT VERY LITTLE HAS CHANGED, MAYBE EVEN GOTTEN WORSE?

 

It was December 26, 2010 when the SCPR last dealt with the issue of the quality of care that dogs processed through the Stark County Dog Pound are receiving.

The past Wednesday the commissioners appointed a new member (Judy King) to the Stark County Dog Pound Advisory Board (SCDPAB) and reappointed a serving member (Sally Rouse).  Both Ms. King and Ms. Rouse are volunteers at the Stark County Dog Pound.

At Commissioner Creighton's initiative, the commissioners now ask appointees to come to the commissioner meeting at which they receive an appointment so that all the commissioners are acquainted with and somewhat familiar with their appointees.

One of the things that the commissioners did not do in their exchange with the candidates for appointment was to pursue points brought up by them in their remarks about problems continuing to exist at the Stark County Dog Pound. 

After their appointment, The Report stepped out into the hallway and interviewed the two appointees (see the video at the end of this blog).

Was yours truly surprised.  The two gave The Report an ear full of dissatisfaction with the way things are going at the Pound and their dismay that Warden Tetreault was not improving matters.

In fact, they told the SCPR that they were inviting the commissioners to their next SCDPAB meeting scheduled for August 18th so that they can air out with commissioners problems which linger and perhaps worsening at the Pound.

The SCPR has a alternative suggestion.

The commissioners have work sessions on Mondays (10:00 a.m) and Tuesdays (11:00 a.m.) of each week.  Why not take one of those days and have a work session with advisory board members, Tetreault and the Stark County public on the issues that surround the operation of the Pound?

Last year was a year within which commissioners (not the current board except for Ferguson) fired (January 27th) the then dog warden Evert Gibson.  Matters had gotten so out of hand at the Pound in terms of Gibson to effectively manage union personnel that commissioners felt compelled to replace him with Reagan Tetreault (May, 2010) who was dog warden in Holmes County.

But even the Gibson successor hire process was not without some controversy.  Members of the SCDPAB suspected then Commissioner Bosley of trying to finagle a person, who had not been a part of the SCDPAB's screening of candidates, to the top of the list of persons being considered to replace Gibson.

Moreover, there was a controversy between Commissioner Ferguson and some SCDPAB members as to whether or not he saw a video of Pound employees mistreating dogs housed at the Pound.

While the SCPR understands that the commissioners figure to have "bigger fish to fry" (i.e. getting their 1/2 cent levy proposal passed on November 8th), the county does have other business and it is high time that they dig into the bubbling problems that appear to continue to plague the Pound and get them resolved "once and for all!"

Matters like the quality of work being done at the SCDP also factor into the commissioners' quest to reestablish trust between themselves and the Stark County public.

The commissioners can ill afford to lose votes for their 1/2 cent proposed sales tax increase.

While no one connected with the SCDPAB, Friends of the Pound, or from the members of the dog-loving public have indicated to the SCPR that their vote is in jeopardy as a consequence of perceived problems at the Pound, The Report believes that, if the commissioners fail to act on the complaints, they may be risking such a reaction.

BACK TO ROUSE AND KING

The state of repair at the SCDP have gotten so bad and with the county experiencing severe financial problems and likely that commissioners are not willing to make needed repairs themselves, the Friends of the Pound (which both Rouse and King are involved in) is holding a fundraiser to raise money to fix a ventilation problem among others at the Pound.

Here is the video of Sally Rouse and Judy King