Clymer Dog Control Officer, Kelly Thornton, speaks with the town board about multiple ongoing issues with dogs and dog kennels. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

CLYMER — Clymer’s dog officer is proposing town officials try to use an out-of-business dog breeder’s facility while a regional dog kennel is built.

The town of Clymer has applied for a shared services grant with the towns of Ripley and Mina for a dog kennel for the town, and dog control officer Kelly Thornton came to the Clymer Town Board to talk about that and other ongoing issues in regards to dogs.

At the town’s May meeting, Thornton said that the kennel with the other towns is going to be a project to get in place, and in the meantime the town will be hovering with nowhere for dogs to go. A breeder has gone out of business in the local area, Thornton said, who is Ag and Market inspected and has done everything that is needed, with the building now set to be sitting empty. Thornton said Mina as well does not currently have anywhere to go, and wondered if approaching this breeder might be a temporary solution until the other is done.

“That would keep you guys from getting in trouble with the state while this is being built, because this is going to be a project,” Thornton said. “It’s big, it’s not little, with all the county funding involved, paperwork, rigamarole, whatever. So, as a temporary solution, this is something I wanted to talk to you guys about.”

Thornton said she could approach this individual and ask, and find out more information and what fees would be involved, such as holding fees that Thornton got paid for holding the dogs when she did it. The breeder could make her own fees, but Thornton said it is generally $25 a day for the five-day holding period. The town dog control officer is then responsible for finding a shelter after the five days if the dog is not collected.

“I’m keeping my shelter open for DCOs,” Thornton said. “So, if they get a good dog and all of the shelters are full I can come in as another person and assist with dogs that are adoptable, so we’re not having to put these dogs down.”

The Humane Society is still the secondary contract for the town, and Thornton’s first contact, but they and any other shelter that Thornton usually works with are full. Town Supervisor Brian Willink said that asking this individual about it would be a workable solution, and Thornton added the kennel is not on their property, but off to the side, and is already inspected, which is done on an annual basis.

Thornton is the dog control officer for multiple towns, including Sherman, which has been seeing issues with dogs when it comes to landlords, who Thornton said do not care if the dogs are biting or doing things that they should not be, including one incident with someone allowing their dog to defecate on a roof.

“We called the Health Department, we called anyone you could think of,” Thornton said. “We weren’t getting anywhere. So, I said to the town, we need to go to the landlord; plain and simple. We went to the landlord, he was apologetic. The landlord ended up buying them all lunch. So, I think when it comes to situations like that there needs to be more responsibility on property owners.”

Any property in the area that Thornton has taken an abandoned dog from, she said has been a rental property. She said there was one place where the town could have billed the land owner the holding fees for one abandoned dog that was found on a property in the town, as the tenant left it behind, and she said she is not getting anywhere going after tenants.

Willink asked if any other town was making it work to try to go after the landlords more, and Thornton said Sherman has been working on it, adding that the two towns also share an attorney. Thornton also spoke briefly on ticketing dogs that go off of people’s properties, asking if it was something the town wanted to bother with.

“I know once people find out that people can get tickets for dogs being off of their property, the calls will be going through the roof,” Thornton said. “It’s one of those things where, nuisance dogs I can maybe ticket, ones that are continuously off of the property, but like maybe not have it be a general thing that I do.”

It is not something Thornton said she has to worry about in the town too often, and when it happens the situation will be corrected in one way or another. Town Clerk Wendy Trisket said if someone approaches her office with a complaint about that, the owners get a dog off property letter, are given two weeks to reply, and if not then they can get a ticket.

Dog licensing, and the potential of doing a dog census, were then discussed by Thornton. Thornton said in Sherman she had suggested doing a door to door dog census, which can be dangerous and is not something she would do on her own, but sometimes it is the only way to know how many dogs are in the area. There are a lot of hours and work behind it, and it was noted that one was done on paper three years ago, and a partial one was done for the town before that.

Thornton is also looking to find a deputy dog control officer to take on her position.

“I’m tired,” Thornton said. “I’m burning out. I think I’ve made great progress, but I’m ready to pass the baton to somebody else younger who can keep up with it. I have told all of the townships to start looking for a deputy. Nobody’s had any luck.”

There was one applicant in Sherman who was facing some legal issues, that Thornton said she was not comfortable sending onto people’s properties, and that was it. She said she would hold on as long as she could, but she would like to get someone to start training with her to hold the progress she has made and to not take a step backwards. Thornton also noted a lot of things are changing with the new state laws, and it would be good to have someone else come and know what is going on and be able to help where needed, especially as her own shelter, Small Town Shelter, has been taking off recently.

The town possibly hosting a rabies clinic was then briefly discussed, before conversation returned to the shared services grant for the kennels with Ripley. Willink acknowledged that there is a lot of noise going on right now with dog control officers and dog kennels.

The grant would allow for an approved kennel for the three towns applying, and Willink read through some of the requirements for town dog kennels, adding that inspectors have been around. He said he met last week with the group working on the kennel operation, who have all come up with many ideas and found a great spot for the kennel, which already has water and sewer.

“What we’re thinking of is potentially getting a contract with, there’s a couple different companies that do them, they build basically pre-fab dog kennels,” Willink said. “We order it, have it shipped to Ripley, drop it.”

Willink said he thought Ripley’s highway superintendent would be able to wire it, and then they would be in business. Requirements include hot and cold air and water, the ability to have the dog go in and out, a collection area for urine and a quarantine area for dogs they cannot be sure are vaccinated. The three towns received $67,050 from the county through the grant to put forth towards the kennel project. The town would be asked to pay $5,000 for in kind support. Willink said everyone will be thinking about bumping up their budgets for kennels and dog control officers, as they are all facing the same problems. Sherman and French Creek have also been asked about going in on the kennel, as they were a part of it at first and said no.

Willink read off a few more of the new requirements for dog kennels, adding that places like the Humane Society would like to help, but everywhere is at max capacity.

“It’s a problem that doesn’t seem to be getting better, so now the state’s kind of pushing it and they will be implementing their own agenda,” Willink said.

The pre-fab dog kennels are meant to be New York State approved, and the structure should pass all of the inspections, and Willink noted all of the paperwork and information for each dog would have to be kept as well.