County Coordinator Wilbur Dean and Animal Services Veterinarian Dr. Darlene Esler listen as Animal Services Director David Weatherford responds to a question from Linda Cooper.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Levy County Commissioners are rarely receptive to changing how their animal services department operates, but the door was opened just a crack Tuesday when two board members said they would consider opening the animal shelter on Saturdays.
The potential for Saturday hours was won after a sometimes hard fought debate at the county commission meeting between board members and Linda Cooper, Spotlight founder and longtime advocate for improved living conditions and operating procedures at the county animal shelter.
Commission Chairman John Meeks indicated he might be willing to look at opening on Saturdays. Meeks said he called 13 of his fellow commissioners from other counties on Monday and Tuesday to ask if their animal services department was open on Saturdays. Eleven of the 13 said they are open on Saturdays. Only two counties north of Levy remain closed on Saturdays.
“Where do you think my mind is; maybe there are services that need to be provided,” Meeks said.
Cooper argued that the current hours of animal services, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, prevents working people from driving to animal services at the landfill to adopt dogs and cats. She said opening the department from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday would allow for more adoptions and potentially decrease the number of animals euthanized.
Meeks and Commissioner Mike Joyner urged Cooper to wait until after the county’s new 50-bed dog kennel is in operation to give the county time to revise the animal services work schedule and possibly find a way to open on Saturdays.
Cooper said she had been raising the subject of Saturday hours at animal services for years but her requests have fallen on deaf ears.
“Every time I wait, you bury your head in the sand and nothing happens,” Cooper said.
Commissioner Lilly Rooks, who oversees animal services operations, wasn’t interested in opening the county animal shelter on Saturdays.
“I don’t see that happening,” Rooks said, leaning forward to look at Cooper.
Earlier in the meeting, Joyner suggested Animal Services Director David Weatherford should be left alone to make all the decisions regarding his department, an argument that has often been a brush off for anyone recommending changes to Animal Services.
The county commission makes animal services policy and has authority to give orders to, or fire Weatherford. Changing the operating hours and policies at animal services would be a county commission decision.
But this is what Joyner said about Weatherford in his statement earlier in the meeting.
“We have department heads running these departments and they’re out there; they call the shots, ok,” Joyner said. “If they’re not satisfied with the hours, they have the right to come to the board to change hours, but if they think they are running this department like it should be run and they’re serving the public like they should be, I think we should have enough confidence in them to do that.”
Rooks and Joyner have been staunch defenders of Weatherford.
The animal services director earns $24.92 per hour, or about $51,000 annually. He has a high school diploma.
Cooper cited Florida Statute 823.151, regarding nuisance dogs and cats, and the requirement to open animal services on Saturdays. The statute requires animal services departments to allow owners to have access to animal services facilities 1 weekend day per week and after 5 p.m. on 1 weekday. County Attorney Anne Bast Brown didn’t challenge Cooper’s interpretation of the law.
Commissioner Matt Brooks said the statute doesn’t say the county must increase its budget or hours of operation to add Saturday services. He said it means the existing weekday hours would have to be adjusted. Cooper said she agreed with his interpretation. She said one possibility would be opening for half a day Wednesday and transferring those unused hours to Saturday.
Meeks suggested another possibility. He said if employees worked 9 hour days for four days a week and then half a day on Saturday it would achieve the same effect. Cooper didn’t disagree with that potential arrangement. She said there are many ways to make it happen without increasing spending at animal services. The department has a $400,000 annual budget.
Meeks took exception to Cooper’s statement earlier that the board has buried its head in the sand in the past when suggestions were made for improving animal services. He took it personally. Her statement was aimed at the entire board.
“I’m sorry, I have a thousand things going on with this job besides worrying about animal control,” Meeks said. He cited torn up roads on the south end of the county that can’t be repaired until the county hires more people at the road department after Oct. 1, and he said the county also has a developing mosquito problem when flood waters stop running and pools of water left behind become breeding areas for mosquitoes.
Commission Chairman John Meeks said he would consider backing a proposal to open the animal services shelter on Saturdays.
“To accuse me of personally burying my head in the sand…I’m insulted because this is always on my plate as the chairman, along with everything else I’m juggling as chairman,” Meeks said. “I’m sure those people on the left and on the right and on the ends, are doing the exact same thing.”
Cooper responded: “This is not charity work on your behalf. It’s something you chose to do, why are you saying…” (inaudible)
Meeks responded: I choose to govern and lead, not to be attacked publicly. No one signs on for that.”
Cooper replied: “You cannot call this an ambush. On July 28, I sent you an email (notifying the board of the state statute requiring animal control facilities to be open on 1 weekend day per week); not one of you officially responded to the opening. Not one response.”
The argument ended.
As the debate wound down, Meeks and Joyner indicated the issue of opening animal services on Saturdays would be considered when the new 50-unit dog kennel is constructed, but they made no firm commitment. They encouraged Cooper to bring the issue back when the new kennel is in operation.
As part of her presentation, Cooper also questioned why there were only 18 feral cats per month sterilized under the county’s Trap, Neuter and Release program. Dr. Darlene Esler, the animal services veterinarian, responded that she has more duties at animal services than just the TNR program. She said TNR is a labor intensive process that begins with residents picking up the traps on a Friday, trapping the cats through the following Tuesday and bringing them to animal services. The cats must fast for a day before surgery and she watches them come out of anesthesia before they can be released to the owner that brought them for sterilization. But Cooper said 18 cat sterilizations through the TNR program was an exceptionally low number. She said the veterinarian needs to do a lot more TNRs every month.
Cooper also criticized animal services for announcing on Aug. 31 that it would no longer accept pet owner surrenders. The announcement was released when Esler was on vacation, possibly because of a backlog of animals at the overcrowded shelter in Esler’s absence, Cooper said.
“If I were to guess, part of the problem was due to the fact that no one was able to perform the spay/neuter operations if an animal was chosen for adoption. Seems it would be more pro-active to “fix” eligible animals upon intake (of animals surrendered by owners) and not the day of the adoption as is the case now,” she said. “This would have a two-prong effect; the animals would be available for adoption, no waiting, and an animal that left the facility would no longer contribute to overpopulation, which would be helpful in preventing future euthanasia.”
Cooper has made no secret of the fact that she would like to see Weatherford replaced as animal services director and moved to a different department. She considers Weatherford to be inept and too incompetent to run animal services in the modern era.
Weatherford has been reluctant to add more volunteers at animal services. He has been backed by Rooks in that regard. He has also opposed opening the animal services shelter on Saturday, once again backed by Rooks.
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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting September 10, 2019; Posted September 10, 2019
