County must ensure animal control services are continual
In last Sunday’s editorial, the Standard renewed its suggestion that the county “open its own animal shelter and free itself from the never-ending squabbles of the Humane Society.” The editorial suggested the Humane Society unreasonably closed the animal shelter to place pressure on the county for increased funding.
I respect the Standard’s right to offer its opinion, however it does not address the root of the problem. The county has two choices: 1) operate an animal shelter, or 2) contract out the services. It can neither ignore the issue of animal control nor permit a temporary absence of the service.
The county should issue a competitive bid and select a winning contractor. The Humane Society might or might not be the winning vendor. Through a written contract, the county would specify exactly what services it needs and then monitor the adequacy of the work.
It is the responsibility of government leaders to assure there is absolutely no lapse in delivery of a required service. The county, through its lack of advance planning, did not make decisions in a timely fashion so it could open its own shelter or have a contractor engaged to provide the service by July 1, 2005.
The Humane Society is under no obligation to operate the animal shelter for free while the county decides on its budget. No contractor would be expected to provide services, such as garbage collection or health care, without having an operational contract in hand and payments for services received in a timely fashion.
The problem now is the county has failed the citizens by not providing for continuation of animal control activities. If it wishes to operate its own animal shelter, then it should have provided for a time of transition from the current system to a new system.
Thomas Fisher
Hickory Blvd.
McMinnville