Commissioners discuss animal care

Ashland County commissioners, June 1 meeting

Key action: With the recent seizure of 80 animals in Richland County, Commissioner Denny Bittle spoke on the procedure the county would take if a local county were to need help caring for the animals.

May 25 meeting:Dog Shelter, Health Department set to open July 1

Discussion: “We haven’t made any decisions on how to do that yet,” Bittle said. “We have 50 kennels, the outside run kennels, and we did that for both financial and usage, to see where we are going to be at.”

“I think if we ended up doing something like that (take some of the seized animals),” added Commissioner Mike Welch, “I think you would still have to charge the other county. Because that is being run on a lot of taxpayers' dollars in Ashland County. There would have to be some charge, and obviously we are just thinking right now.”

“And anything would be temporary,” Bittle said. “It would not be permanent.”

Other action:

• Authorized transfers for the $5 Permissive Tax and Dog & Kennel.
• Concurred with the hiring of Nathan Humrichouser to temporary full-time kennel worker at the dog shelter from May 26 to July 31. Humrichouser will return to part-time working hours after the July date.
• Authorized appropriations to Prosecutor Seizure and Health Department.
• Approved travel for County Recorder Michal Crow from June 11-14 for the Ohio Recorder’s Conference in Dayton. Cost is $850.

Next: Commissioners will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Commissioner’s Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. The meetings are open to the public and also live-streamed on the Ashland County Government Facebook page.