VIDEO: Animal Shelter now open in 'functional operational' phase

Monday, July 20, 2015

Col. Phil Parker discusses reopening of Putnam County Animal Shelter.


After four years of waiting, Putnam County again has a functioning animal care and control department.

Col. Phil Parker of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department announced to the county commissioners Monday that the county's two animal control officers have been in a "functional operational" phase for about 10 days, responding to animal calls and caring for the animals as needed.

The shelter is not yet, however, fully operational.

Parker explained that Sheriff Scott Stockton implemented a four-phase plan for reopening the shelter after taking office in January. The department finds itself currently in phase three, with phase four to begin soon.

"Sheriff Stockton, when he came into office, developed a four-stage plan for the animal shelter. We went through the planning phase for that (and) the implementation phase," Parker told the Banner Graphic. "Right now, we're in what we call a functional operational phase. What that means is our animal care and control officers (are) taking calls and responding to the needs of the citizenry for a vicious animal, an injured animal or an animal that is in need of care. They're able to house those animals at the shelter and care for them properly."

Randy Patrick is serving as the animal care and control director, along with Animal Control Officer Rodney Cline.

"Both of those individuals are up and running and ready to respond to the calls for service that a citizen here in Putnam County may have for animal care and control," Parker said.

Meeting the county's needs 24 hours a day with just two officers is a challenge, which is one reason Parker said they are looking forward to the final phase.

"What we're hoping to be in the next phase here in the coming weeks is what we call an optimal operational phase," Parker said. "That's where if an individual has an animal they can no longer care for or want to surrender that animal, we are able to take that and then we're into, through our partnership with the Humane Society, able to adopt those animals out into homes that are willing to take a rescued animal."

Although Parker was wary of committing to a timeframe for reaching the optimal phase, he told commissioners it is likely a matter of weeks.

While the surrenders and adoptions are vital to a fully functional shelter, Parker and Patrick emphasized that other requirements need to be met to correctly implement the final phase.

Among these is writing the department's standard operating procedures, a task that Patrick said is mostly finished.

Additionally, a number of volunteers need to be appointed and trained to staff the shelter in addition to Patrick and Cline. These volunteers are likely to be drawn from the Humane Society of Putnam County, which has partnered with the sheriff's department and the county Animal Care and Control Board in getting the shelter operating again.

"The partnership has been fantastic," Parker said. "There has been a lot of work done between those three agencies."

HSPC in particular earned high praise for the thousands of dollars it has spent in equipping the shelter, purchases are outside the normal budget of the shelter.

Patrick also told the commissioners that as the department remains in the "functional" phase and even when animal calls outside the normal scope come in to his department (such as for horses), the staff will do what needs to be done to provide for the needs of the community.

"We have a lot of resources in surrounding counties as well as this county that can help us out," Patrick said.

Calls for the animal care and control issues should be treated like all others for emergency personnel, by calling Putnam County Dispatch at 653-5115 or 911 in the case of emergencies.

Although not yet open to the public, the Putnam County Animal Shelter is located at 4700 E. SR 240, Greencastle.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: