Columbus Council passed a motion Tuesday for the police chief and city manager to be involved in the contract negotiations involving Columbus Animal Care & Control.
This move comes after City Manager Isaiah Hugley announced in a press conference Oct. 1 that animal care and control didn’t have enough employees to continue operating the facility in compliance with Department of Agriculture requirements.
This announcement came after eight Columbus Animal Care & Control workers were arrested as part of an investigation by the Columbus Police Department, the Ledger-Enquirer reported .
CACC has a total of 25 positions funded, but 12 positions don’t have an employee working in them, according to Hugley at the press conference.
At the press conference Hugley said, “Over the last 24 hours, we have revisited with Paws Humane to discuss the opportunity to contract all Columbus Animal Care & Control services and operations through that organization.”
Hugley said he received an email confirmation on Oct. 1 from Paws Humane Society, a nonprofit organization, which stated Paws was interested in taking over the management of the shelter and field services of CACC, contingent on the level of funding the city is prepared to allocate.
Hugley said the email states, based on preliminary figures, the group estimates approximately $3.5 million would be necessary to fund services and ensure “successful operations.” Hugley said the budget for CACC is $2.1 million.
Columbus police chief Stoney Mathis told city council Tuesday that CPD’s investigation into CACC found the department was “woefully underfunded.”
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, he said, “These animal control people make $15 an hour, and they can’t keep people, but they can’t keep them because they pay them $15 an hour.
“I’ve kinda seen some of their trucks driving around. Their trucks are old, they’re beat up. They don’t have the equipment to do their job.”
Reactions to possible negotiations
One councilor showed hesitancy in including Hugley in the negotiations involving Animal Control.
“I just feel that these negotiations will go faster and smoother if the city manager and the director of public works are not apart of it,” said Councilor Charmaine Crabb during the meeting. “I cannot get over my feeling about that because of the fact that they have been managing animal control for so many years and it’s in this position that it’s in.
“They do a great job in other areas, but they really let this one fall through the cracks.”
When asked about his thoughts on being involved in the negotiations, Mathis told the Ledger-Enquirer, “I’m interested in seeing how that’s going to work out. I’ve not been involved in other entities outside of the police department.
“I work very closely with the city manager and his team already; so, I don’t think this is going to miss a beat.”
Update on CACC
The director of Columbus Public Works, Drale Short, gave the council an update status of Columbus Animal Care & Control. Short said there are 52 dogs and 12 cats at the Columbus Animal Care & Control facility.
The hours of operations for the shelter are as follows, according to Short’s presentation:
- Sundays & Mondays: closed to the public
- Tuesdays: Open to the public from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Wednesdays-Saturdays: Open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Short’s presentation also gave an update on animal control officers hours of operation, which are Mondays-Fridays: First shift will work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with second shift working from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The presentation states animal control field officers will be on call for emergency calls only on Saturday and Sunday and anytime after 10 p.m.
Emergency calls include injured animals, a dog attacking an individual, a dog attacking another animal, and cruelty/neglect calls.
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