Police Chief Ryan Walker said the numbers presented for dog euthanized by Pea Ridge do not reflect an accurate picture of the way the city handles dogs found and picked up by police.
"The first thing we do is to make every attempt possible to locate the owner of the dog before we ever take that dog to the vet's office," Walker said. "If there is a tag (rabies or city issued), we contact the owner listed. In a subdivision, we will knock on doors and try to find the owner."
Walker said there were 244 dog complaints received by Pea Ridge Police Department in 2014 and those could be for dog at large, barking dog, vicious dog, found dog. He said Pea Ridge police wrote 125 citations for violation of the city's dog ordinance.
"We have actively worked for the past two months on how we can better the outcome for all the dogs. We're working with the vet clinic on more detailed billing. Dr. (Gary) France and his staff (at Pea Ridge Veterinary Clinic) are more than willing to work with us," Walker said.
So far this year, Walker said 13 dogs have been taken to Pea Ridge Veterinary Clinic: one was euthanized, owners picked up and reclaimed two, 10 were adopted out.
He said the numbers presented by representatives from animal welfare organizations at last week's City Council meeting don't reflect the true picture.
"We dealt with about 488 animals. There were 46 euthanized, that's really only about 9 percent," Walker said. He said many dogs are returned to their owners the first day they're picked up and are not reflected in the numbers.
Walker also said one particular case last year involved picking up 13 dogs from one residence and that many of those dogs were not in good health. He said those numbers skewed the average.
Walker said $3,705 was spent on boarding. The city's contract provides for five days of boarding per animal. There was a total of $6,344 paid by the city to Pea Ridge Veterinary Clinic for boarding, euthanizing, medication and late fees, according to the billing statements.
"We are reviewing the ordinance and the contract and working with the city attorney to see what we can do," Walker said of the offers from several animal welfare organizations to adopt the dogs prior to being euthanized.
"We appreciate the offer of a scanner," Walker said of an offer from the Humane Society of the Ozarks to buy a microchip scanner. "It's important for dog owners to update the information with the microchip company."
"We are researching all available options to determine what's best for our city and the dogs in our city. As of right now, the vet's office still works diligently to adopt out every dog they can."
General News on 03/25/2015