County dog pound hurting following procedural change | News, Sports, Jobs – Warren Tribune Chronicle

Sep 10, 2022
WARREN — Trumbull County Dog Pound volunteers have been told they now are only permitted to walk dogs but not take a role in any other part of their care. Pound employees and volunteers say that policy change will hinder the dogs’ chances of being adopted.
The county employees’ union agreement says that work normally performed by members of the bargaining unit cannot be contracted to another individual, as long as a bargaining unit member is available and able to complete the work.
Pound volunteer Amanda Hebert, who is typically on site four to five days a week, said she believes this should not apply to the volunteers because they are not paid, so they should not be classified as contractors. Volunteers do work that the union members often are too busy to do, she said.
The only union members are the secretary and the four deputy dog wardens, one of whom is on leave after being charged with four counts of animal abuse.
“If I was getting paid, I would understand how this would be a violation,” Hebert said. “But I don’t get paid. I do this because I want to care for the animals.”
She said the volunteers were told this change is due to liability concerns of the county and to prevent a union grievance.
Hebert and other volunteers attended the county commissioners’ meeting Thursday to voice these concerns. Commissioners Niki Frenchko and Mauro Cantalamessa said they would each be in contact with the union.
Cantalamessa said they should not be alienating people who want to help the animals and also pointed out the volunteers save the county money.
Frenchko said, “We just need to be careful that we are doing things the right way and not creating any union grievances. It doesn’t mean that you can’t walk dogs, that’s wonderful, but I’m just trying to prevent liability.”
Hebert said all volunteers must sign a waiver releasing the county and its employees from liability in the case that a volunteer is involved in an accident on or off the premises of the pound.
Wardens are tasked with completing all paperwork, coordinating volunteers, handling money associated with dog licenses, picking up strays from the street and completing intake procedures, which takes up most of their time, she said. With the recent change in what volunteers cannot do, the workload for the wardens has grown.
One of the major roles of volunteers, before the recent change, was taking animals to their training appointments. Hebert said this is important for the animals to eventually be adopted. This training helps to alleviate behavioral issues animals may have when they first come into the pound, due to the mistreatment they previously experienced.
Training has been put on hold for most, if not all, dogs because the deputy wardens do not have time to take the animals to training or do the paperwork that is required beforehand.
Hebert said she is concerned that no one will want to adopt dogs with behavioral issues. This could overcrowd the pound, which is prohibited from turning away dogs. At that point, the only option would be euthanization.
Hebert said an increased rate of euthanization would hurt the pound’s relationships with other animal shelters. Currently, the pound rarely euthanizes an animal. The last time this happened was more than a year ago.
Along with no longer being able to be involved in training, the volunteers also can no longer run social media accounts to advertise the dogs for adoption or change dogs’ water.
“The executive warden (Michelle Goss) has done everything she can to eliminate euthanizations,” Hebert said. “She has built relationships with dog rescues that can take them in if we can’t, but just like we are near capacity, so is everywhere else. This is a national issue.”
On Thursday, the pound had 14 dogs inside, which is the maximum amount; eight outside in space that will soon not be available as cooler weather approaches; and three in crates, which are not made for long-term use, but the pound has no other option.
Hebert said the pound had to cancel an appearance at an adoption day fundraiser it was to attend in a different county on Sunday because of these ongoing issues, further limiting the exposure of animals to be adopted.
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