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Belmont County Exploring Humane Officer Agreement

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — After months of negotiation, Belmont County is on the path to having a humane officer in the coming months.

On Wednesday, Belmont County Commissioners Josh Meyer, J.P. Dutton and Jerry Echemann signed a memorandum of understanding with the Belmont County Animal Rescue League for BCARL, specifying the provisions of a humane officer’s duties.

The county has been without a humane officer for several months and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office has taken on the duties. In recent months, the area has seen investigations involving animals including a case of neglect and abuse on Chestnut Road in the Belmont area, resolved Tuesday. A volunteer group has been vocal during that time in urging the county to obtain a humane officer.

“We spent an inordinate amount of time on this issue because we wanted to make sure we got it right,” Dutton said. “We think this is the best way forward.”

“This has been something that’s been worked on for quite awhile,” Meyer said. “Our humane officer resigned several months ago.”

He said BCARL will now begin the process of appointing a humane officer, who must be approved by Belmont County Probate Judge Al Davies.

A humane officer’s duties will include investigating living conditions and health and well being of animals when abuse or neglect is suspected.

BCARL Director Jennifer Woollard thanked the commissioners and their staff for their work on the memorandum.

“We still have a few more steps in the process before we can actually have a humane officer on-duty, but this is a huge step for us and we’re so excited that we can now take those other steps in having a humane officer serving Belmont County through BCARL,” she said.

Meyer commended Sheriff David Lucas’ officers for taking on the work in addition to their regular duties. Dutton also thanked the sheriff.

“Taking this on wasn’t a quick and easy thing to do, but he did and the staff did,” Dutton said.

“It’s all of our problem in a community,” Lucas added. “My deputies and the staff came up to full speed and it’s unbelievable the number that we handled when we took over the calls.”

Echemann echoed those thanks and asked how humane cases were trending in the area.

“In our county, we don’t really now. We’re taking a leap and we’re going to handle this. We’re going to have officers who are appropriately trained to handle these cases,” Woollard said, adding that she believes cases of animal abuse were rising statewide, possibly in conjunction with domestic and drug cases. “Those tend to fall on animals as well. They’re linked to each other. … In counties where there’s more economic issues or drug issues, you see more animal and child abuse issues.”

Woollard said there are frequent calls from people reporting suspected neglect of pets.

She said statewide training will be available June 24-27. BCARL will submit a proposal to the probate court after their candidates go through training. She added that the negotiations had been ongoing for close to a year, with several points to be agreed on.

She said since BCARL at this point has no facility of its own, so the county animal shelter will provide space for pet-abuse cases, while they will rely on fostering larger livestock when these animals must be confiscated. Woollard said BCARL hopes to obtain a facility at a later time.

Woollard said the county will also provide a four-wheel drive vehicle and a trailer for livestock to reach difficult-to-travel areas. She said the county will also provide a yearly amount of $25,000 to assist with salaries.

“The remainder, we’re a non-profit organization and we rely on donations,” Woollard said.

Dutton added that the county welcomes the further assistance of other non-profit entities dedicated to caring for animals.

“There’s a lot of need out there,” he said.

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