By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
To prevent animal cruelty cases from slipping through the cracks, Wood County residents will soon have one place to call to report animal abuse.
After a meeting between the Wood County Commissioners, the Wood County Humane Society, the Wood County Dog Warden and the Wood County Sheriff, it was decided that the sheriff’s office will soon take over as a clearing house for animal cruelty complaints.
As the county commissioners prepared to give the humane society its annual $30,000 check to support the position of a humane agent, Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar suggested that the roles of the various agencies involved be outlined.
“We want to make sure that is clear,” Kalmar said of the role of the humane agent. “What can law enforcement expect?”
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn voiced his concern that cruelty calls could be going unanswered.
“Are things slipping through the cracks,” the sheriff asked. “Is there tracking? Is there accountability with the calls.”
The problem is the humane society has one humane agent to investigate cruelty complaints. She cannot work 24/7, so some calls don’t get immediate responses.
The sheriff’s office also gets a share of the phone calls about animal abuse. So Wasylyshyn offered to have sheriff’s dispatchers take all the animal cruelty complaints to improve the tracking and the responses.
Heath Diehl and Erin Moore of the Wood County Humane Society
That suggestion was welcomed by Erin Moore, the humane society shelter manager, and Heath Diehl, the humane society board president.
“I think we’re missing things because people don’t know who to call,” Moore said.
And with one agent, help is needed, she added. “That would be a peace of mind for us,” Moore said.
“That would serve the citizens of Wood County much better,” Wasylyshyn added. If the humane agent is available, she would be dispatched, otherwise a deputy could respond.
The humane society has a response protocol in place. Through a series of questions asked on the phone, it can often be determined if the case is a true emergency, Moore explained.
“Everybody always thinks it’s an emergency,” she said. “Most things can wait till morning.”
Sheriff’s dispatchers can be trained on the questions to ask to assess the immediacy of an animal cruelty complaint, Wasylyshyn said. That would be more satisfying to the callers than getting an answering machine at the humane society, he said.
Requests may be made to other police departments in the county to forward animal concerns to the sheriff’s office.
“I think it would really help us if we had one clearing house,” Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw said.
Moore also said having a clearing house would help track the number of cruelty cases in the county.
“All we know are the reports that come to us,” she said.
In 2016, the Wood County Humane Society received 214 cruelty complaints. In most cases, education of the owners takes care of the problem, but in a few cases the animals were surrendered to the humane society or abandoned.
Moore explained that the primary goal is education, and that animals cannot just be removed from their owners. “There are laws we must follow,” she said.
