Kevin Kerr
DUNCAN — The Stephens County Humane Society contract came under question recently as it is supposed to be negotiated on a yearly basis, but hasn’t been since 1997, making its contract with the City of Duncan an invalid one since 1998. Representatives from the Humane Society were present during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, and said they welcomed the opportunity to negotiate their contract with the city.
According to the 1997 contract, the city is responsible for the euthanizing of animals and the food provided for animals in the Humane Society. The city pays for utilities and owns the land where the building is located.
Humane Society members present at the meeting said that they pay for all the food provided to animals at the shelter, and they have a contract with a veterinarian that takes care of all euthanization processes. Those services would most likely not be part of the city’s obligation to the Humane Society, but there does need to be a contract set with the city, said city attorney Jim Frieda.
It was decided that board members of the Humane Society should meet with City Manager Clyde Shaw, as well as with Animal Control and Duncan Police Department to negotiate a contract that will tend to all needs of the Humane Society, as well as their services to the community.
Mayes stated that the contract negotiation with the Humane Society is important since they provide such a vital service to the community.
“They need all the support we can give them,” Mayes said.
As well as contract negotiations, the Humane Society was mentioned while discussing the Trap, Neuter, Release program grant and the potential amendment to current city ordinances.
The council discussed at the last meeting that this program would be an asset to the city, and would benefit greatly from its results. They took action by asking for a draft of an amendment to section 4-301 of the city code. However, the discussion was not as pro-program though as it was in the previous meeting.
Council members said they had received several messages from citizens who were not happy with the program in Duncan. Many council members said they had to ask themselves “How is this going to affect the city?”
Councilman Carl Bowers said he was torn on the issue, and councilman Michael Hale echoed the fact by saying most of the feedback he received from the community was mostly negative.
“What if one of these cats comes up and bites or scratches someone trying to pet them,” Bowers said.
Mayes said that this wasn’t an issue as most of these feral cats wouldn’t even approach a person, let alone scratch or bite them.
Humane Society member Robin Emerson wrote the grant that was submitted to PetSmart for the program and has been handling all of the details pertaining to this grant program. She said that the cat colonies in question were welcome at the businesses where they were identified, and that owners wanted to know if the cats were going to stay once they were captured and neutered or spayed.
“The businesses use them for rodent control,” Emerson said.
Questions were asked about why this program works over simply catching and euthanizing the cats, but Emerson said the program is much more humane for the animals and it has been successful in many other larger communities and cities in the past.
“It just works,” Emerson said. “They don’t know how, but it just works.”
She also said that very strict guidelines and regulations would have to be followed and recorded if they were to proceed with the program. Every cat caught would be examined and all information would be added to records being kept by the Humane Society to give to PetSmart to show results of the program.
The council passed the amendment by a vote of 3-2.
“Let’s give it a shot,” Emerson said. “If we can manage the population by spaying and neutering, then we should do it.”
-Kevin Kerr is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354 Ext. 147 or by e-mail at kevin.kerr@duncanbanner.com.
