In 2008, Jones proposed moving the dog warden office to his control to save the county money and allow more training for the wardens. But an opinion from the county prosecutor’s office said the dog warden must report to the county commission by state statute. The sheriff went ahead and made Deputy Holly Schickner, a former county jail correction officer, his animal control officer, with the same full police authority as a patrol deputy.
A recent change in the law, which was part of the Ohio budget and championed by the Buckeye Sheriff’s Association, gave the option for a sheriff to serve as dog warden.
It is an option that commissioners and the sheriff’s office in Butler County say makes since.
The county spends $418,000 annually, mostly money collected from dog licensing fees, on catching strays and impounding them at the Animal Friends Humane Society in Hamilton. The sheriff says he can save the county $50,000 operating the office.
Butler County Commissioner Don Dixon said he will hold Jones to his cost savings promise.
“Look, we have a way to undo this if it doesn’t work,” Dixon said. “If it’s not working, if we don’t see a savings, we will try something else.”
Dixon said the move does not mean there will be no dog wardens. What will happen is there will be more immediate supervision of the office, more training and better response to calls on weekends and after regular working hours.
“We are not saying that anyone has done something wrong,” Dixon said. “This is not about doing a good job, it is about better organization and saving taxpayers money. I’m for saving money and giving more services to the dogs.”
Deputy Dog Warden Tonya Henson, who has been in the business 16 years, said she believes the change is a good one.
“I think we will be more recognized as law enforcement and not just dog catchers,” she said.
Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer, of the sheriff’s office, said it is their intention to keep all the current employees, despite some misinformation being leaked to the public.
“Our intent is to keep all the dog wardens and deputy dog wardens,” Dwyer said. “I am saddened that one or two people may have provided good-hearted people with misinformation.”
Dwyer said saving money does not necessarily mean cutting a position; there are other ways to increase revenue through management of equipment and increased sales of dog tags.
“We can draw more attention to this program … give them more training and resources and also look to them (deputy dog wardens) to educate my officers about animal calls,” Dwyer said.
He added, it would be totally inappropriate to use dog and kennel funds for anything but humane service.
The change in the law offered options to counties, Dwyer said.
It appears there is more than enough work to go around. According to the Butler County Sheriff’s office, they dispatch dog wardens to 1,916 calls in 2012 and the sheriff’s humane officer to 452 calls. The majority of the humane officer’s work is animal related, but she does respond to other sheriff’s office calls. Those numbers do not include direct calls the dog wardens receive and animals they encounter in the field.
But the shift has spawned concern from citizens who don’t believe the sheriff has the best interest of the animals or dog wardens in mind.
Lisa Holbrook of Fairfield said the whole thing “doesn’t pass the sniff test.”
“Why does he want to take over this so badly that he worked with his association to get the law changed,” Holbrook said.
Janice Martin, an administrator for the Facebook page, Save Our Dog Wardens, said she is concerned the takeover will end with officers who “either will not be focused on the animals or will not be focused on public safety.”
Martin said the current dog wardens are dedicated to their jobs and care for animals.
“I don’t think he became sheriff to be a dog warden, but these people do. That is their chosen profession,” Martin said. “Not every sheriff deputy would have the passion that they have.”
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