Commissioners enact euthanasia policy for Highland County Dog Pound

Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels voted Wednesday, Jan. 15 to establish a euthanasia policy for animals housed at the Highland County Dog Pound.

Daniels said the pound on North Shore Drive, which opened in the spring of 2023, can house up to 40 dogs, although the facility has “had as many as 50 dogs in there at one time.”

“It's been our desire to rehome dogs as much as we can, to work with rescues as much as we can, to find placement for the animals that we get in and have care of,” Daniels said. “Sometimes that creates a challenge.

“In order to maintain, first of all, what's in the best interest of the animal, and what's in the best interest of the taxpayer, we've come up with a euthanasia policy for dealing with what we’ve determined to be a necessity in kennel operations.”

The policy states that “euthanasia is to be considered only after a reasonable and appropriate pursuit of all other viable options” and that the county is “willing to pursue all reasonable efforts to provide for [the dogs’] well-being.”

A volunteer group, Friends of the Highland County Dog Pound, sends out a weekly report listing dogs available for rescues to transport or for individuals to adopt. As Daniels and Roades both pointed out, some of those animals have been on the list for a year or more, and the pound “is not a good environment for an animal long term,” Daniels said.

Therefore, the policy states that “after three months the staff may, in consultation with a veterinarian, euthanize an animal” because “prolonged housing in a kennel setting is not in the best interest of the animal.”

Euthanasia may also be considered for dogs that are “suffering mentally, emotionally or physically … as determined by a licensed veterinarian,” including in cases where the animals have “a poor prognosis, protracted painful recovery, incurable debilitating illness [or] are non-responsive to treatment.”

Another circumstance is for dogs that “are deemed to pose an unacceptable danger to other animals, themselves or the public,” the policy states.

“We've got animals that come in that are vicious, that we don't feel that we can rehome,” Daniels said.

Other potential reasons for euthanasia are for pregnancy terminations; court orders or other legal reasons; or lack of space at the pound.
 
“We have a veterinarian that comes in weekly and examines every dog that comes in for health, for long-term health problems, and makes judgments on all these animals,” Daniels said. “We've come up this policy that sets the parameter by where, if we need to euthanize an animal, this is how we will go about it.

“I think that we have pondered over this for a year, year and a half, and finally come up with what we believe to be a fair and equitable solution for not only the taxpayer, but for the health of the animal and the public.”

In other discussion:

• Kelly Faas, field representative for newly installed U.S. Congressman David Taylor, introduced herself to commissioners and other county employees, as she was accompanied by Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender.

Faas said that she is the field representative for Highland and Brown counties “and two little townships in Fayette County” and hopes to be active in upcoming events in these areas.

“I encourage you to please contact me if there's something that you would like for Dave to pay attention to,” Faas said. “There will be some community funds available coming up. That'll be coming very shortly. As soon as I know the parameters of that, I'll let you all know how to get that money.”

Since being sworn in Jan. 3 as Ohio’s Second District representative, Taylor has been appointed to the serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Agriculture Committee.

“Sometimes they don't get what they ask for, but he considers himself blessed that he got agriculture, and he also got transportation and infrastructure,” Faas said. “Those are two things that were near and dear to his heart.”

Thus far, Taylor has also voted in favor of legislation including the Laken Riley Act and the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, and also supports the SAVE Act and POLICE Act, Faas told commissioners.

• Highland County mobility manager Carl Rayburn shared some statistics from the past quarter and year for FRS Transportation.

“For the last quarter, we had 20,817 trips, and we ended up with 79,715 for the year,” Rayburn said. “On our elderly and disabled for the last quarter, we ended up with 2,016 trips; our elderly and not disabled was 4,814; and our disabled but not elderly folks, we had 3,854.”

• At 9:30 a.m., commissioners entered an executive session with members of the Highland County Board of Elections to consider employee compensation. No action was taken.

Commissioners also made the following other approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• A continuation of a housing agreement among Highland and Jackson County commissioners and the Highland and Jackson County sheriff’s offices for 2025, for inmates at the Highland County Justice Center.

“Basically, it’s going to be the same as last year,” Roades said. “The only thing different is that before, when a prisoner from Jackson County had to go to the hospital, we had to send one of our people to sit with them. The agreement changing this time is we're going to sit with them with one of our sheriff’s officers and charge $45 an hour until somebody from Jackson County gets there to sit with them. Other than that, everything's staying the same.”

• A renewal of an existing IV-D contract among commissioners, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Highland County Child Support Enforcement Agency and attorney Adam J. King.

“[King] conducts our child support administrative hearings at the office,” Highland County JFS Director Jeremy Ratcliff told commissioners. “He's out there one day a week, and he’s been doing that for several years. This is a continuation of that contract to allow him to continue to set administrative child support orders for folks that request [them].”

• A resolution to authorize the establishment of a new fund, 2545 PY 2024, and appropriate $239,911.75.

• A resolution to authorize the County Engineer to declare listed items as no longer needed by
the County and obsolete, ORC 307-12 (A)(1). Therefore, the board declares the listed items to be surplus property and no longer needed by the county.

• A resolution to authorize the County Engineer to purchase one new 2025 Weiler P385C Paving
and Compaction from Ohio Cat, not to exceed a total of $255,474.

• A resolution to authorize a budget modification within the 1000 County General fund in the amount
of $16,000.

• A resolution to authorize the County Recorder to declare listed items as no longer needed by the County and obsolete, ORC 307-12 (A)(1). Therefore, the board declares the listed items to be surplus property and no longer needed by the county.

• A budget modification within the 2075 Youth Services Grant - DCC fund in the amount of $18,600.

• A budget modification within the 3170 Mowrystown Sewer Debt Retirement fund in the amount of $1,367.23.

• A budget modification within the 2615 CCA 2.0 FY24-25 fund in the amount of $7,078.28.

For more from Wednesday’s meeting, see the story at: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/commissioners-recognize-highland-c….

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.