Citizens talk with city council about animal control

Animal control garnered the most attention at the Feb. 6 Cloquet City Council meeting, as councilors got an update on future plans for strays and runaway animals from city administrator Aaron Reeves, then heard from citizens too.

Reeves recapped a joint meeting of 11 different city, county and township officials held Jan. 29 at Cloquet City Hall. Noting that the old Friends of Animals humane society building has supposedly been sold, Reeves told councilors that estimated costs for a new animal shelter are estimated at $1.5 million plus $.5 million for equipment. Reeves said the groups represented at the meeting concurred that, for now, efforts should be focused on education, helping pet owners “chip” their pets — implanting a microchip to provide a permanent ID for the animal which can be used to find the owner — spay and neuter pets, and continuing efforts to post photos and information about lost and found pets through social media. (Editor’s note: For more on the Jan. 29 meeting, read the story “For now, birth control and chipping are core of animal control plan” on Page 3 of the Feb. 1 issue of Pine Knot News or go online to http://www.pineknotnews.com).

“There’s a difference between strays (which are a government responsibility) and rescue animals, which a humane society usually deals with,” Reeves said.

“A number of people have been taking animals in and basically serving as a humane society from their homes,” he told the council.

Some of those people were in the audience, and spoke up during the work session discussion.

Karen Villeburn-Vranek said she volunteered at FOA and talked about the large number of stray cats that the humane society took in.

“We had 140 cats at one time,” she said. “They didn’t just go away because FOA went away.”

“We probably do need a humane society in the county, but the question is, what is the government’s role,” said at-large councilor Lara Wilkinson.

Ward 4 councilor Kerry Kolodge stressed the need for all the governmental bodies to pool their resources, and Reeves said that was the plan.

Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb said vaccinations are equally important, and pointed out that cases of parvo and distemper will rise when the weather warms up. Kolodge stressed that the government’s role should be dealing with issues of disease, dangerous animals and strays — not rescues.

Amy Addy, one of four administrators of the Missing Pets in The Northland Facebook page said their group has grown “exponentially” since FOA closed, and talked about people being confused about what to do when they find a stray.

They should call 911, Reeves said. Police can scan the animal for a chip and, if successful, try to contact the owner. However, police won’t transport the animal; that’s up to the finder or owner. Sometimes they tell people to just let the animal go, because there is no place to take them now.

Addy said people should contact Missing Pets if they can’t keep a stray at their home and they can try to help. Addy also said her fellow Missing Pets administrators have three scanners between them and they are happy to go try to scan a found animal. They also scan animals that are found dead and post it online, so owners can get closure, she said.

In the future, Reeves promised that the governmental group meeting about animal control would include a number of the audience members in their meetings.

During the citizen comment portion of the formal council meeting, Linda Hendrickson read a letter to the council, which questioned how the city could move ahead so quickly with plans to take over the two indoor hockey arenas but take only baby steps when it comes to an animal shelter. She described being at a veterinarian’s office when a woman came in with a dog she found curled and shivering alongside the road; the woman had no place for the dog, so Hendrickson and her husband took it to an animal sanctuary until its owner could reclaim it. “Why is it expected that an animal shelter should in large part be supported through fundraising and volunteer efforts? Is that going to be the same way in which the ice arenas are funded and operated?” Hendrickson said.

In other matters, the council unanimously approved two appointments during the Feb. 6 meeting, reappointing Lauren Herbert to the Citizens Advisory Board and appointing Steven Korby to the Library Board.