By Marjorie Lloyd
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Despite public objections, larger fueled by misinformation, according to County Commissioners, Sumner County Animal Control is now one step closer to having an adequate facility.

The County Commission voted Monday night, Jan. 26, at their monthly meeting to construct the planned building on the acreage currently owned by the county off Albert Gallatin Drive.

A standing-room crowd of onlookers that interrupted public speeches with applause were there not only for the animal control site vote but also for the vote to adopt the Financial Management System of 1981 that would consolidate accounting and purchasing for the county and the school system and the amending of the Private Acts of 1987 to allow the redistribution of revenues from the hotel/motel taxes to the county general fund. (See related stories.)

The new animal control site, recommended by the General Operations Committee, has enough space to allow a quarantine area and adequate kennels for dogs, larger pens for cats, showcase areas for adoptions, as well holding pens for animals held as evidence in court cases and some acreage for equine on a temporary basis.

Several commissioners spoke during the discussion period, stating that the facility planned for this county is similar to the one in Mt. Juliet, which they described as “state-of-the-art.”

Commissioner Joe Matthews also commented that delaying the location of the archives building cost several thousand dollars in construction costs and that delaying the construction of the animal control facility would also incur additional expense.

The objections from residents of the area, which includes Benny Bills Elementary and the County Health Department, centered around the following areas: the spread of disease, the potential for smoke being visible during euthanizing of animals, the drainage of waste and manure onto neighboring parcels of land, and the danger of inmates working in proximity to a school.

In a letter dated Jan. 21, sent to parents from Ken Henderson, Benny Bills’ principal, as a handout, he said, “I have some concerns about how this structure will impact our students.”

However, both Sheriff Bob Barker and Sgt. Mike McClerran, who heads up Animal Control, stated in interviews after the meeting that they have met on two occasions with residents whose property backs up to the site and will continue to work with area residents as the construction begins.

We want to be good neighbors,” stated the Sheriff. “They have had drainage problems, and were concerned that the work would make them worse. We told them we are planning on putting in landscaping, like swells, and cut the grade and that will help.

“We also talked about screening with trees and fencing. This is designed as a visitor-friendly area.”

Sheriff Barker noted that creamtion,  which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, does not produce black smoke and that when the new facility in place, there will be no odor.

“A lot of misinformation has been put out there,” he stated.

The is sue of trustees from the Sumner County Jail being used as caretakers, the Sheriff stated that trustees are a select group of inmates who have been extensively evaluated before they are allowed to work outside the jail.

“We look at their history and the risks, such as what crime caused them to be incarcerated. There are a lot of factors that go into selection.”

The Sheriff noted that about 100 or more inmates are working somewhere throughout the county on a daily basis. However, each crew is closely supervised.

The Sheriff also stated. “We’re going to use a large part of that property for a jail garden. I talked about that with the neighbors.”

Sgt. McClerran stated, “I think it’s going to be a win-win situation for everybody.”

There will be 54 in-take kennels for dogs and 69 in-take kennels for cats. Twenty-seven in the adoption center for cats, and 21 for dogs.”

With larger animals, Sgt. McClerran said, “Most of the time, it’s a three-day process when we get them surrendered and get them on to VEA (Volunteer Equine Advocates). Commissioner Joe Matthews said dafter the meeting, “What I saw tonight was a lot of fears. I think once you see the building, and once it gets up running, all those fears people have will subside. And once this starts happening, the euthanasia rates goes down.”

County Executive Anthony Holt stated, “We want to work with them (neighbors and parents). Some parents thought it was a great thing. They understand what we’re doing, they’ve been to other facilities, and they know it’s going to be clean. It’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility. They said, ‘It’s a great education experience for our children.’”

Animal Control has averaged 280-320 calls per month since they opened, according to Sgt. McLerran, and the total number of animals admitted for 2009 was 4,411, according to information supplied by the Sheriff’s Office.

More dogs than cats were admitted, at 53.9 percent and 46.1 percent respectively.Owner-surrendered animals were 27.3 percent of that total, with more cats (635) being taken in from owners versus dogs (569).

More than half the animals were euthanized, at 58 percent (2,447). And of those animals, more cats were euthanized (1,378) than dogs (1,069).

Slightly more that 12 percent of the animals were adopted out, with 359 dogs going to new owners but only 165 cats.

If the Sumner County’s new facility operates in a similar manner to the one in Mt. Juliet, designed by the same architect firm as Sumner’s, the euthanasia rate is expected to be in the 80s percentile.

According to David Pigma, the Director of Purchasing, Communication and IT for the county, said that the design of the facility has not bee n finalized but he expects that requests for bids for the construction will go out at the end of next month with groundbreaking sometime in April and completion approximately early fall.