shiawasseecounty.net

Personally I would at this point think the dogs are better off on the streets. Our Animal Control stinks, as does the upper management who doesn't know squat about running a shelter and could care less. they would rather kill off the dogs and cats( and pay to do so) rather than try to get them adopted out by having reasonable hours or post them on websites and give them time to adopt if there is space.

The licensing fees, well, sorry but all of them were recommended by the State Veterinarian at the time at one of the meetings and we as a county are still not as high (for individual dogs) as some places. We also called animal controls in areas with the same size populous to get an idea of what license fees could go to. $5 and $10 is just ridiculous. The plan was to fix the problem building (regardless of whether or not it had cats in it) and some adoption programs. I think it was 2005 that we were at a 70% kill rate for our shelter.

If the legislation says that low an amount for kennel fees then we need to talk to state government about fixing it as well. I'm personally sick of people breeding dogs for money only to sock it to us rescues who are stuck fishing them out of shelters and homing them again because we feel bad for those dying in shelters. Good breeders care about the genetics of what they are breeding, good breeders have puppies placed before even breeding, they do application processes and home visits to see WHERE their dogs will be living because they care about the pups, they also do not give full registration on the papers so that anyone can breed to anything and create all the damn mutts that are taxing our overflowing shelter systems. they also are the first contact to take their dog back if it doesn't work out with the purchaser. is this alot to expect? No. Good breeders do not make money on their litters if they are doing it correctly, they are doing it for betterment of the breed-getting the genetic testing and shots and everything else that they should.

As far as the shelter, I say close it and be done. Then our board can't con people into thinking that they might actually be supporting an animal control. Then the animals won't be sick and dying because they were exposed to a bad environment, the sheriff can spend more time doing whatever it is that he does. You all going to elect him to do it for 4 more years?

I'm sure Kay, that you probably take good care of your kennel, but the harsh reality is that many do not. I have seen it over and over and it never seems to end. So instead of people refusing to fix their animals and going from 6 to 18 to 25 and having nowhere for these pets, it should be cheaper to fix their pets and pay a much lower fee. We don't need uneducated backyard breeders littering everywhere.

If I had my way anyone advertising litters in the paper would be checked for licenses and tags as well-and ticketed if they aren't licensed.

Bottom line is that there is a pet overpopulation problem, tickets don't get written enough, the laws that we have aren't enforced, and the shelter is a piece of crap with a bad ventilation system.

It ticks me off because not only do I get hit for licensing, taxes- I have to pay to pull and rehome the animals as well. Why? Because I CARE TOO MUCH.

Cindy

Personally I would at this point think the dogs are better off on the streets.

The dogs don't know any better. They aren't toilet trained. Maybe the owners are the ones who should be kept off of the streets.

I just heard that the Shiawassee Animal Control Officer does not go into the townships, cities or villages that have their own "animal control" ordinance.

Sorry, I can't help myself. That is just about the funniest thing I ever heard.






and that isn't even the funniest part...........

There are 5 cities in Shiawassee County: Corunna, Durand, Laingsburg, Owosso and Perry with a total population of about 26,000. Four of those have websites with dog ordinances quite similar to those of the city of Owosso. Perry’s ordinance does mention dog licenses, the others do not.

There are 6 Villages In Shiawassee County: Bancroft, Byron, Lennon (partially), Morrice, New Lothrup, and Vernon with a total population of about 4000. I don’t know if they have a dog ordinance or not. The three who have websites do not have a dog ordinance on it.

So far I have only identified one township with a website and also has a dog ordinance on it..

The Shiawassee County Animal Control does not go into any of these. Their own police take care of any complaints.

That is right around 34,000 people in a county with a population of around 72,000, roughly 47% of the population of Shiawassee County that is not being covered by the Shiawassee Animal Control department. Yet, all the money collected for dog licenses goes into the county general fund with 2007 animal control estimated revenues of $158,000, expenses $153,000.

My my my…………that is interesting.

How much do you suppose it costs the county to administer the Dog Law of 1919 in this township and these cities and villages? $5 per dog? $10? $20? $30

I just don’t see it costing the county much at all. If a person buys a dog license from a veterinarian, the county pays the vet $3.00 per license. So, I guess the county could claim that those licenses cost them $3.

You can also mail in for your license, then the county wouldn’t have to pay that $3.

The county also has to buy the license from the state. That can’t be much. $1.00 per license? The book the licenses are recorded in, I think is provided.

Doesn’t amount to much, does it? The Dog Law of 1919 and the Shiawassee County Animal Control Ordinance both allow the county to set the license fee at a level sufficient to cover the cost of administering the Dog Law of 1919.

I think they are way overcharging for dog licenses already, But this township, city and village thing is just way beyond even my idea of an overcharge! It is more like fraud. I think if I lived in this township, or a city or village I just wouldn’t buy a dog license.

That would cost the county nothing.

I agree that the county is overcharging. When I lived in Cadillac a few years ago licenses there were $5 when they were $10 here. Weren't licenses $15 here just a few years ago?? I seem to remember being appalled.

Even though licenses may be $10 for spayed/neutered animals now, I would rather pay that than get caught without one and pay the fine. Much cheaper!

I know............its a shame it is just so much easier to let these outlaws illegally run/ruin our lives than it is to try and make them obey the law.

Did you mean this for another topic?????? Anyway, what the county should be doing is rounding up all the Feral Cats in the county and sending them to the Gas Chamber!! p.s. WE found all the Nazi blueprints for Gas Chambers from 1940!!!!

YUP.....it's gotta be the weather. Is that yer second favorite emoticon?
Ya missed one.....

Hey, maybe you could organize a cat roundup. Just an idea.

True Story: Leelanau County (the little finger of Michigan) circa 1975 +/-

So many dogs running around the County in packs and harassing children and others, they decided to have a "Puppy Shoot" (my words) They (County Sheriff) had articles in newspapers for weeks then one weekend he deputized a bunch of the local hunters or anyone that had a shotgun and a pickup truck to ride around and shoot any loose dogs they found running free. That must've been quite a sight, pickup trucks loaded with blaze orange coated men bristling with shotguns all over the county. I don't know if any of them shot each other or not.
I'll admit that is a little drastic but one has to ask how did the problem get that bad? My mother lived in Leelanau Co. at the time and the neighbor's dogs would come right up on her porch growling and barking at her when she tried to go out. The neighbors attitude? "OH! they wouldn't hurt a fly!"
Well, maybe I am a sissy but a 75 lb. dog, tail up, hair raised on his back, snarling and circling around behind me is a threat and I am not going to "wait and see" if he is going to bite me.

Hey Fritz I remember that!

A friend and former boss of mine had a place up there in the woods, rather primitive w/out house and hand pump in the sink for water

When you went to the toilet (at night especially) you took the shotgun with you as the roaming packs of dogs might decide you didn't need to get back in the house.

I don't know if it's still a problem, but I can't imagine it's changed a whole lot.

Barry

It has only been a few years since they had a similar problem in Flint with packs of stray dogs. They 'rounded' them up somehow, don't recall much publicity about the roundup part. Cats are not as likely to attack humans, won't get as much enthusiasn for a cat roundup, or "kitty shoot". Except the hunters have told me the cats really jump and scream when you shoot them. They seem to find that amusing.

Can't believe so many hits on this thread. If you are coming in via Christine's website where she calls this a Discussion on the various dog laws in Shiawassee

There is way more discussion on my blog at http://shiacac.blogspot.com/ that goes into more (way more) detail on Shiawassee County's Animal Control Ordinance. Also includes some about the cities.

There is also a link to "Michigan Dog Owners Assn" that talks more about state law and other counties.

Not everyone is bad with the dog doo problem. I live in downtown Owosso and see the same woman almost every morning before I leave for work walking her dog. This is in the area where my car is parked and I have never see any poo or stepped in any for that matter. So everyone isn't that bad. I'm saying this just to thank the responsible dog owners who live downtown and follow the rules. Thank you.

Harmonic wiped out all of his posts on this thread............

but he missed this one..........

I still haven't figured why this gets so many hits................?