Article published November 25, 2009
Lucas County orders end to puppy euthanasia
Dog warden's TV remarks draw ire
By TOM TROY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
The Lucas County commissioners voted yesterday to prohibit Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon from killing puppies at least through 3 months of age, including, for the first time in years, "pit bull" puppies.
And in a development that could threaten even the few weeks remaining in Mr. Skeldon's tenure as dog warden, Commissioner Ben Konop called for his suspension for making allegedly false statements about the Toledo Area Humane Society in a television interview.
The commissioners adopted the recommendation of the Dog Warden's Citizen Advisory Committee to end puppy euthanasia through the end of 2009. The only exception would be puppies that are ill, as determined by a veterinarian.
The advisory committee specifically included "pit bulls" in the moratorium for two reasons - because no 3-month-old puppy of any breed would be a threat to people and because it is too difficult to determine that such a young dog is a "pit bull."
Mr. Konop made the motion to adopt the moratorium, although he initially proposed to make it indefinite. He voted against an amendment from President Pete Gerken to limit the moratorium to the current year. The amendment passed 2-1, with Mr. Gerken and
Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak voting in support."It would have made a lot more sense to do it on an indefinite basis," Mr. Konop said. "Today there was actually some substantive change, and that's better than the status quo."
Mr. Skeldon did not return calls seeking comment.
Mr. Gerken said he agreed to the amended resolution because it did not conflict with the recommendations of the advisory committee.
Ms. Wozniak said the moratorium was unnecessary because the dog warden already established a policy of protecting puppies from euthanasia.
"That practice of taking care of puppies and getting puppies adopted already exists," Ms. Wozniak said.
However, yesterday's action was the first time that "pit bull" pups have been explicitly protected, at least until they are three months old.
| Dogs killed |
Dogs killed by Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon on Nov. 24:
Breed and description; location seized; charge:
Labrador mix, black female, “on file 54569 ‘Sassie'”; Oswald, Toledo; running loose.
Sheltie, black/orange/white male, “dog bit 11-10-09/hold for quarantine”; Hearst/Glenn, Toledo; running loose.
Lab/Chow mix, orange/white female, “removed from trap, removed silver choker, hair loss, underweight”; Ridgewood, Toledo; running loose.
“Pit Bull”, black/white male, improperly confined; Woodstock, Toledo; running loose.
Dachshund, orange/black female; Elsie, Toledo; running loose.
Boxer mix, orange/white male, docked tail, green nylon collar; Woodsdale, Toledo; running loose.
“Pit Bull”, orange/sable/white female, black nylon harness, “left eye has a black spot”; North Detroit, Toledo; running loose, no muzzle.
Shepherd, orange/white female, “darted by deputy warden/dog chased after a jogger”; Saddlebridge/Bridle, Maumee; running loose.
“Pit Bull” mix, black/white female, “no scars”; Stratton, Toledo; running loose, no muzzle.
“Pit Bull”, white/black male, blue nylon collar, “no locks on gates/no license/multiple ‘Pit Bulls'”, improperly confined; East Central, Toledo; East Central, Toledo, resident; running loose, no muzzle.
“Pit Bull”, dark-brown/white male, “on chain/under fence into neighbors yard/multiple vicious dogs”, improperly confined; East Central, Toledo; East Central, Toledo, resident; running loose, no muzzle.
“Pit Bull”, white/orange female, “TPD#1651, no license, no muzzle”, loose at vacant house; East Streicher, Toledo; running loose, no muzzle.
Terrier mix; gray/white female, “possibly blind, kept 2 days”; Western/Airport, Toledo.
“Pit bull” is a generic descriptive term for a dog trained to fight and may refer to multiple breeds, including the American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, and other mix breeds determined to be “pit bulls” by Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon. |
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One week ago, the dog warden announced a policy of no longer killing puppies other than "pit bulls" and sick puppies that would be euthanized for humane reasons.
The Dog Warden Advisory Committee recommended the temporary moratorium on Nov. 12. Its recommendation said that it had asked the dog warden for the criteria used to distinguish "pit bull" type dogs from others, but so far he had not done so.
"Pit bull" is a generic descriptive term for a dog trained to fight and may refer to multiple breeds, including the American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, and other mix breeds determined to be "pit bulls" by Mr. Skeldon.
"This board of Lucas County Commissioners has made it known it wants to see an increase in dogs adopted and reduction in dogs euthanized by the county dog warden," the resolution stated.
It said 400 puppies have been killed in the dog warden's office since 2007.
As of Sept. 30, the dog warden had euthanized 109 puppies this year.
Mr. Skeldon, 61, last week announced his resignation as dog warden after weeks of criticism from dog advocates and from Mr. Konop, who said the agency was killing too many dogs. He planned to give up day-to-day oversight Dec. 31 and use accumulated leave through Jan. 31.
New controversy flared yesterday after the head of the Toledo Area Humane Society accused Mr. Skeldon of inaccurately claiming that the Humane Society does not take all of his adoptable dogs.
"We have a contract with the Toledo Humane Society for them to take all adoptable dogs we have," Mr. Skeldon said in an interview shown Sunday on WTVG-TV, Channel 13's public affairs show Conklin & Co. "They don't do that. We've offered them dogs for the past weeks, more than we normally do. They don't take them."
John Dinon, executive director of the Humane Society, wrote in an e-mail to the three commissioners that what Mr. Skeldon had said was not accurate and should not be repeated.
"If you have documentation that we are not taking all dogs offered, I would like to see it. If not, I would like to request that you ask Tom to stop making this inaccurate claim publicly," Mr. Dinon wrote. He said Mr. Skeldon had made a similar statement in The Blade.
Mr. Konop made a motion to immediately suspend Mr. Skeldon without pay through Jan. 31, his retirement date, for cause.
The motion failed 1-1 after Mr. Gerken voted no and Ms. Wozniak, Mr. Skeldon's first cousin, abstained. She said she wanted to review the documentation before taking action.
"The Humane Society has provided ample documentation that this was a lie," Mr. Konop said. "Any other department head would be suspended. There's clearly a double standard."
County Administrator Michael Beazley, Mr. Skeldon's boss, said he plans to look into the discrepancy alleged by Mr. Dinon.
As evidence that the Humane Society takes any dogs offered by the dog warden, Mr. Dinon provided a copy of e-mails between Dr. Deb Johnson, head veterinarian of the Humane Society, and Bonnie Mitchell, pound manager of the dog warden's office, in which Dr. Johnson specifically asks, "Are we currently taking all the dogs you need us to at [Toledo Area Humane Society]?"
Ms. Mitchell responded: "We do send every available dog that we cannot adopt to [the Humane Society] or I contact one of the various breed-specific rescue groups that take those."
Mr. Dinon said he had other documentation showing that all the dogs offered by the dog warden have been accepted.
He said the Humane Society is so committed to putting dogs up for adoption that it accepts dogs from other Ohio counties, including the home counties of Dayton and Columbus.
"We have never turned down Lucas County Dog Warden dogs to bring in dogs from other counties," Mr. Dinon said. "It was just a way to save more dogs."
Contact Tom Troy at:
tomtroy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6058.
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