Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz, left, shares a light moment with Councilman Frank Torain, far right, before Monday’s Common Council Finance Committee meeting. To the mayor’s right is Councilman-at-large Nick Weiser. P-J photo by M.J. Stafford

The city dog shelter situation howled its way to the forefront of Monday’s Dunkirk Finance Committee meeting.

Mayor Kate Wdowiasz started the session off with several proposals for the Common Council. First, she wants the city to implement an impound fee for dogs of between $25 and $35 per day.

“In looking at what we’ve been doing, the shelter is not self-sustaining by any means,” she said. The mayor said the shelter has “allegedly adopted out (dogs) and (licensing) fees were waived.”

That statement led into a continuation of her tussle with former city dog control officer Jennifer Sasso, whose contract was not renewed in March. Wdowiasz claimed the city faces an unplanned $3,000 veterinary services bill because Sasso took dogs for care that was not budgeted.

The mayor said she wants Sasso to pay the bill, and sought the Common Council’s backing for the move. Wdowiasz said that under Sasso’s contract, the city was not responsible for bills on non-budgeted items.

“I know it’s bad PR, but there’s not $3,000 extra in the budget,” the mayor stated.

The city is “very fortunate to have” Wayde Forster as its new dog control officer, Wdowiasz went on.

She added that if a dog is in the city shelter for more than three days, the shelter ought to reach out to one of the independent, non-profit “rescues” in the area to see if it will take the canine.

Wdowiasz also commented that “we are missing every piece of equipment we had” at the dog shelter. She did not explicitly accuse Sasso of theft at Monday’s meeting, though Wdowiasz did so in a lawsuit filed against her.

Wdowiasz also accused Sasso of defamation in the lawsuit. A city worker spoke up towards the end of the meeting to question the mayor how much the lawsuit would cost Dunkirk, and if any city employee could use city law services to file a defamation case.

Wdowiasz replied that the lawsuit cost Dunkirk $350. It is getting handled by its contracted law firm Raimondo and Sundquist of Jamestown, under the obligations of the contract, she said.

The mayor added that a city employee who feels he or she has been defamed can contact that law firm for a consultation.