Salem Veterinarian Dr. Michael Douglas told the Marion County Board Tuesday night the animal control officer was not following state law when allowing dog owners to self-confine their animal if they bit someone and had not had proper shots.
Douglas expressed his concerns in the public comment section of the meeting.
“If the dog is not current on rabies—and that’s documented because those vets have to send it in to the county—if there’s no rabies certificate that dog has to be confined under the observation of a veterinarian,” Douglas said. “You can’t confine that at home and have that person decide if the dog has rabies or not. The veterinarian decides if the dog is having clinical signs of rabies, then the person should be protected against rabies because it is a lethal disease. There are some things that we’re doing that I don’t think follow the code of the Animal Control Act.”
The county animal control officer had been allowing owners of dogs that had bit someone in the smaller communities to self-quarantine their animals.
Douglas also felt it was unfair that everyone in the county was paying a dog fee tax, but only those in the unincorporated areas of the county had the services of the animal control officer. Later in the meeting, Community Relations Committee Chair Bill Henson announced the committee had decided earlier in the evening to have the animal control officer to respond to calls throughout the county. However, dogs in the smaller communities will not be able to be taken to the Centralia animal control facility because the county’s agreement with Centralia is only for dogs from unincorporated areas.
More discussion on animal control is scheduled for the next community relations committee meeting at 5:30 pm on July 23rd. The mayors of the smaller communities in the county will be invited to that meeting.
In other action, on a 9-5 vote the contract with XT Solutions for technology support was continued for another three years. The no votes were based on county board members having difficulty reaching the company for help on their county issued iPads and no plan being in place on replacement of current equipment. County Board Chair Debbie Smith says the issues would be addressed with the company but the vote was needed Tuesday night because the current contract expires July first.
The board concurred with new salaries set by the state for three county officers. The pay for State’s Attorney will increase to $207,000. The sheriff’s pay will go to $165,372 and the public defender’s pay to $188,964.
The board named Steve Brummel to replace Ed Gerstenecker on the Farmland Assessment Committee.
