Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 @ 11:32 a.m. / Animals, Community, Local Government
Del Norte Supes Approve Animal Services' Transition to Sheriff's Office; Ag Will Move to Williams Drive Facility
Humane Society volunteers bring Del Norte County animal shelter dogs into Pelican Bay State Prison for the Prison Paws Partnership Program last year. | File photo: Jessica C. Andrews
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Supervisors finalized the Del Norte County Animal Services Division’s transition to the sheriff’s office on Tuesday, wrapping up a process that began over the summer.
The division will be divided into the Animal Control Branch and the Animal Shelter Branch. A sheriff’s captain will take on the administrative responsibilities for the division, while animal control officers and the animal services supervisor will wear uniforms similar to Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Sheriff Garrett Scott told the Wild Rivers Outpost.
Scott said he will hire a secretary and a full-time kennel assistant. He would also like to hire another full-time kennel assistant. Scott said the Animal Services Division will also continue to rely on volunteers.
“They’re a huge benefit for the pound and for the animals, all those volunteers are,” Scott said Wednesday. “They’re putting in tons of hours to help and they’re just a crucial part of things.”
The Board’s unanimous decision gives Scott signature authority over budget and payroll documents, personnel actions and other procedures related to Animal Services, according to Tuesday’s staff report. The transition is expected to take effect by Jan. 1.
Once that happens, Del Norte Agricultural Commissioner Justin Riggs, the sealer of weights and measures and the former animal services director, will move into a refurbished building at the county’s Williams Drive campus. The county is also building a workshop to house the Agriculture Department’s weights and measures sub meter testing equipment, a workbench, storage space as well as provide a place to store pesticides, he said.
“Refurbishing this unused building will save the county significant funds in comparison to a lease or new construction,” Riggs told the Outpost. “We will gain a number of new capabilities by having a facility that is focused on agricultural work and has a proper weights and measures workshop. This office will allow us to hold training sessions, present our public outreach material properly and finally provide a safe working environment for our staff.”
On Aug. 25, when supervisors decided that the DNSO would be a better home for Animal Services, Riggs said more than 2,000 hours that had been budgeted for the Agricultural Department had been spent in Animal Services. Agricultural programs were being compromised and he was in danger of losing the staff who man those programs, Riggs told supervisors.
On Thursday, Riggs told the Outpost that the needs of Animal Services have increased annually since the county stopped euthanizing dogs for space in 2008.
“The needs Animal Services has for both space and staffing had gotten to the point where we essentially weren’t a functioning County Agricultural Commissioner’s office anymore,” he said. “This move will help reinvigorate our operations as well as attract (and) retain staff with the expertise we need.”
There are still details to iron out and a vacant biologist position to fill, Riggs said. But by the 2024 agricultural season, he promised the department will be very different to what people have been used to.
“I believe the public will be pleased with the increase in services we can provide by having staff who are focused on agriculture,” he said.
Scott said there are steps his department will take to improve operations at the animal shelter and at Animal Control. Ensuring officers wear uniforms like his deputies is important since they’re writing search warrants for neglected animals. The shelter needs a better barn facility and corrals for horses, cows, sheep and goats that are seized, Scott said.
Animal Control also needs a better horse trailer and a four-wheel drive vehicle, he said.
“The nice thing that I’m impressed with is Dogs of Del Norte County and the Humane Society has put a ton of money, and time, into the kennels,” Scott said. “We have 26 right now, nice 12-by-12 foot kennels with rainproof roofs on them. All the dogs have brand new kennels. It’s really upgraded significantly from what it was.”
The county has also installed a new computerized program, ShelterPro, that allows staff to track what’s coming into the shelter and leaving the shelter, Scott said. In the near-future he hopes that the public will be able to pay for their dog licenses on line as well, he said.
Scott also had a message for Del Norte County residents.
“One thing I’d like to try to get out to the public is there’s only three Animal Control Officers, so that’ll only cover the daytime hours and I can’t have deputies do animal control duties. I have to keep them for the public safety part,” he said. “I’ll still need people to call Animal Control, not necessarily the sheriff’s department for a lot of Animal Control issues.”
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