ANIMAL SALES FOR RESEARCH TARGETED

Saturday, August 21, 2004

The Jackson County Commission will debate whether to halt sales of animals from its shelter.

It's been almost two years since Conan disappeared from the Evans home in Jerome, but he's not forgotten.

It still hurts Kim Evans when she talks about the caller who told her on Christmas Eve of 2002 that her 2-year-old pitbull-shepherd mix died at a research lab in New York.

"It shook us up. It was a rough time, but we coped with it," she said. "He was a beautiful dog."

Conan ran away in the fall, apparently ended up in Jackson County, was turned in at the animal shelter and sold for research.

It's that kind of story that riles animal advocates who are attempting to sway the Jackson County Board of Commissioners to stop its long-standing practice of selling strays for research.

They fear that family pets like Conan are finding their way into the animal stream feeding laboratory research and ultimately death.

At odds with the animal welfare group is Fred Hodgins of Howell, who regularly picks up unwanted dogs at the Jackson County Animal Control Shelter and takes them to his kennel, gets them back to good health and sells them for medical research.

County commissioners on Tuesday will debate the issue at the 7 p.m. board meeting in the Jackson County Tower Building, 120 W. Michigan Ave.

Their options appear to be: continue selling to Hodgins, but limit his sales to county-approved research sites and require monthly reports of the sales; eliminate the middle man and have the county sell directly to universities; or ban the practice altogether and euthanize those animals that aren't adopted.

Commissioner David Elwell plans to re-propose a "compromise" resolution he submitted during a committee meeting last week. It would limit to whom Hodgins can sell to and require him to track the animals he picks up in Jackson County.

"If he won't, then we won't sell to him," Elwell said. "I support animal research that helps keep humans alive. I feel strongly about it and feel it's the right thing to do."

On the other end of the spectrum is Commissioner Steve Shotwell, who wants to ban the sale of animals for research altogether. He said the county's practice discourages people from taking strays to the shelter.

"They don't want the animals sold for research," Shotwell said. "When we stop, there will be a lot more animals turned in.

"We need to get the animals that can be adopted, adopted, and the vicious ones taken care of. We have a responsibility, if we can't place them, they should be euthanized."

Cliff Herl, board chairman, said he's between a "rock and hard place."

"Right now, I'll probably go along with selling to the universities and not dealers," Herl said. "A lot of good comes out of it (research), but dealers can sell to anyone."

Hodgins, who's been in the business for 44 years, said he only sells to universities and would be glad to work within Elwell's proposed rules.

He's outraged at the statements about his facility that have been made to the commission by animal welfare groups.

"If the things they say about me were true, I'd have been indicted a long time ago," he said. "These animal rights people are intimidating counties (to ban the practice)."

He said a local veterinarian is at his kennel every week and his facility is inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture four times a year.

The animals he collects have to be "guaranteed healthy" before universities will accept them.

"For example, of the five dogs I picked up in Jackson recently, two had heartworm and had to be put down," he said.

He does not buy animals from or sell to the public.

Judy Dynnik of Jackson County plans to tell the commissioners Tuesday that the "majority of people in Jackson County don't want animals sold for research."

"They say they don't want people from other counties talking to them, well it's completely appropriate for them to," she said. "It's a regional issue. Dogs from other counties can wander into Jackson County. Jackson County isn't an island."

-- Reach reporter Pat Rombyer at 768-4924 or prombyer@citpat.com.