Going to the dogs

The commission held a fairly lengthy discussion on animal control matters. A few interesting figures were mentioned in the process.

Dogs licensed in county 2008: 15,000
Dogs licensed in county 2007: 16,000
Delinquency fee is $50.00
Revenue to the county from delinquency fees: $47,000-$52,000 per year
Delinquencies are on the increase, with 1,600 delinquent currently.
Rabies tests in 2008: 159
Positive rabies results: 8, mostly in bats

“Our adoptions are down. Impoundments are up. Animal abandonments are up. People are just leaving ‘em,” said Animal Control Officer Walt Rodabaugh. Rodabaugh, who is also president of the Michigan Association of Animal Control Officers, said shelters around the state were reporting “mass problems with delinquency this year.”

It was not clear whether the decreasing number of dogs licensed was due to economic woes leading people to forego licensing or, perhaps, simply due to the number of people moving out of the county and taking their dogs with them.

Commission members were interested in the idea of amnesty for delinquent license offenders to encourage compliance without creating extra economic hardship for dog owners. It appeared, however, that state law prevents an easy, workable implementation of amnesty.

The commission considered the concept of veterinarians being allowed to do licensing paperwork. It would simply be a matter of filling out the paper forms, then sending them to Animal Control. Animal Control would do the processing and computer work, then send the license to the pet owner. This method would help people who are further out in the county, while increasing compliance. Commission members reached consensus in favor of allowing vets to collect licensing info.

That’s a nice cart you’ve got there

There was a brief but interesting discussion on the purchase of laptop carts for the Health Department. The carts will be used in the MI-WIC program. The carts need to be “very, very stable.” Data is collected and entered on the computer with the client, and possibly their curious children, present.

Carts need to move around, and withstand the adventurous climbing and probing of the children. This accounts for the steep price on the carts, approaching $1,000 each. Some of the commissioners were skeptical about the price, but Health Department representatives felt it was worth the investment. Four of the carts will be purchased, with monies coming from existing grant funds.

1900 WIC clients currently.
In previous years, 1500-1600 was the norm

hands up

A new federal law will take effect July 23, this year: the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The new law means that palm prints of sex offenders must be taken and kept “on file.”

 Lapeer County will submit for funding from the Michigan State Police to acquire a digital palm print capture device. The grant will reimburse up to $16,000. The device costs $15,020. The department will get $6,000 on trade-in their existing fingerprint machine.

 The Sheriff’s Department will use the device to get palm prints on all arrests, not just those of sex offenders. Commissioners agreed to fund the purchase of the device on the assurance of reimbursement from the grant.

According to studies cited by the Sheriff’s Department, palm prints are captured at nearly one third of crime scenes, where fingerprints are not. It is apparently a more reliable method than fingerprints. 

Clik-bits

•  Commission members decided to amend the schedule for day meetings only, noting that, if need be, night meetings could be scheduled when appropriate.
• Department heads in the county will be considering a policy that would allow personnel to take time off without pay when approved by the department head. Commissioners feel the policy would provide a benefit to employees as well as a potential savings to the county. One thing became clear in the commission’s discussion of the matter: Department heads should be capable of saying, “No.”
• Attorney general and potential gubernatorial candidate, Mike Cox, will be in town later this month and plans to address the commission on the 26^th.
• Get involved?  There are four openings on the Mental Health Board. Local, interested citizens are encouraged to apply. There is also an opening on the Thumb Area Community Corrections Advisory Board.

And clik on this:   DHS caseload is over 16,000 (the count represents individuals and families, so the actual count may be over 20,000 individuals). This means that roughly over 20% of the county population is receiving assistance of some kind. Commissioners speculated that actual unemployment is probably somewhere between 15 and 20%.