Grand Traverse County could soon restore at least two part-time positions to its Animal Control department – a move that comes as welcome news to Cherryland Humane Society officials and community animal lovers.

The county’s Animal Control department was eliminated at the beginning of 2016 as part of a series of county budget cuts. Two Animal Control officers were cut from the county payroll, and the department’s responsibilities were transferred from under the umbrella of the Health Department to the Sheriff’s Office. At the time, County Administrator Tom Menzel noted that many Michigan counties have their sheriff’s departments handle animal control calls. “It’s not a new model,” he said.

But the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office objected to the move, pointing out that other sheriff’s departments have dedicated animal control officers and that its already understaffed department didn’t have the training or manpower to handle those calls.

“We had a hard time finding a solution with the Sheriff’s department” since the cuts went into effect in January, Menzel concedes.

As a result, for the past six months, one of three key areas of Animal Control has been neglected almost entirely: responses to stray animal calls. “The Sheriff’s department responded to rabies calls and dangerous animals and serious ones like that,” says Menzel. “And the Cherryland Humane Society provided shelter services. But we couldn’t get anyone to work with us on that third leg of the stool, which was strays.”

Cherryland Humane Society Executive Director Heidi Yates confirms that strays have been the most significant problem since Animal Control was eliminated. “We did a study from January to May of this year, and compared it to last year,” Yates says, referring to the number of strays brought to the shelter. “The numbers were literally cut in half from last year. Right now we’re just relying on good Samaritans (to bring strays in).”

The Humane Society has also struggled to keep up with neglect and hoarding calls in the absence of an Animal Control department. “With this heat, we’re getting calls of dogs tied up all day with no food or water or shelter,” Yates says. “And we had a hoarding situation today. It’s frustrating, because we have to try and figure out who to call. And the public is frustrated.”

Menzel says he’s heard that frustration, and hopes the new plan will fill the gap. On June 10, Menzel and Deputy Administrator Jennifer DeHaan moved Animal Control services back under the oversight of the Health Department. DeHaan instructed Health Officer Wendy Trute to work with Human Resources to create a staffing plan for hiring new employees to provide Animal Control services.

The positions will be funded entirely by dog licensing fees, according to Menzel. “The key point is this can’t come out of general fund revenues,” he says. “It has to be self-sustaining.” In order to ensure enough funding is available to cover staffing needs, a proposal will likely come to county commissioners in July to raise the dog licensing fees.

Right now, dog licenses are sold for either one, two or three-year periods, ranging from $10-$20 for fixed dogs and $20-$40 for intact dogs. Those rates are proposed to increase slightly, to $10-$25 for fixed dogs and $20-$55 for intact dogs. In 2015, dog license revenues totaled just under $79,000. With the fee increases – proposed to go into effect this October – revenues could climb to a projected $95,000 next year, according to County Treasurer Heidi Scheppe.

After department expenses are subtracted – including a shelter contract with the Cherryland Humane Society – that would leave about $40,000-$46,000 available for staffing, including benefits, estimates Scheppe. Menzel says that could be enough to hire either one full-time or two part-time Animal Control employees.

DeHaan notes that peak Animal Control hours aren’t necessarily from 8am-5pm, and says there tends to be high demand on nights and weekends, particularly in the summer. Hiring two part-time employees could allow the county to strategically spread out and adjust staffing hours to cover the highest times of demand, rather than schedule static day shifts. “The driving force (for scheduling) would be the level of service our community needs,” says DeHaan.

Because staffing decisions no longer have to go to county commissioners for approval, the main policy decision at the board level will be the approval of the increased licensing fees, says Menzel. Once an Animal Control funding and staffing plan is finalized, the county will post the positions.

Yates says it will be a relief to "have someone back working" in Animal Control. “There’s just a void right now," she says. "Anything at this point would be welcome.”