TRAVERSE CITY — Workers will no longer dispose of frozen dog carcasses in dumpsters at Grand Traverse County's Animal Control shelter.
The county board voted Wednesday night to begin cremating the roughly 50 dogs a year the county euthanizes, replacing its previous practice of burying them in landfills. The county health department, which runs the Animal Control office, proposed the change more than a year after the county drew criticism over a dead dog left for days on top of the office dumpster.
"There is a point, for mental health frankly, when people think of their dog or cat lying in a landfill, it doesn't feel good," Commissioner Jason Gillman said. "I think the cost of $400 a year, roughly, is a drop in the bucket for the respect our companions deserve."
Tom Buss, director of environmental health and animal control, said the dumpster incident brought attention to the county's practice of storing euthanized dogs in a freezer. When it's full, staff members put the dead animals in a trash bin and contact American Waste, which trucks them to a landfill.
Buss said the dog left on top of the dumpster last year was an isolated incident.
Buss determined it will cost an average of $9 per dog for cremation. The county put down 46 dogs out of 328 seized in 2011. Animal control returned 107 animals to their owners, while 175 went to animal rescue groups for adoption.
The numbers are a marked decline from 2009, when the county euthanized 99 dogs out of 402 seized.
The vast majority of animals are euthanized because they are either too aggressive or too sick to be adopted, Buss said.
The Animal Control office recently came under more scrutiny for its handling of reports of horses starving at a Fife Lake property. A veterinarian put down two horses while five malnourished animals went to a horse rescue group.
Commissioner Larry Fleis asked the board to review the horse incident and the possibility of moving the Animal Control office back under the Sheriff's Department. The board rescheduled that discussion to a meeting on March 14 at 7 p.m.
Region
GT County to cremate dead dogs
Frozen carcasses no longer will be placed in dumpsters
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