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From The Jackson Citizen Patriot

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COUNTY DOES NOT BAN SALE OF STRAYS

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

By Brian Wheeler, Staff Writer

About two dozen people speak out against the practice, but commissioners go with compromise plan.

Jackson County will continue selling animals for research, a blow to dozens of local residents who condemned the sales Tuesday as a black mark on the county's reputation.

Instead, county commissioners agreed only on a compromise plan that calls for a dealer who buys dogs and cats from the county shelter to document where the animals go.

The change, which will affect Howell-based Hodgins Kennels, is the first to county animal shelter policy in years, but it left many licking their wounds.

Flooding commissioners with research, petitions and complaints against Hodgins, animal advocates had hoped Jackson would join 75 other Michigan counties that don't sell animals for research. About two dozen people picketed against the practice outside the County Tower Building before the meeting.

"What's being presented tonight is a plea by our community to do something different with the (animal shelter) facility that we have," said Pamela Fouty, who owns the Animal Hospital of Vandercook Lake.

"We need to listen to our community and say, yes, these animals deserve a chance."

By a 9-3 vote, though, commissioners weren't convinced to ban sales to Hodgins, which bought nearly 500 cats and dogs from the county last year.

Some said they were convinced by the value of animal research. They pointed to Commissioner John Day, who received a valve from a pig's heart in surgery 29 years ago and credits it with keeping him alive.

"There can be a distinction between legitimate research and what is experimentation," said Commissioner Gail Mahoney, D-Jackson.

While nearly two dozen people spoke for banning pet sales for research, Commissioner Phillip Berkemeier, R-Jackson, said he knew of many pet owners who supported it as a last resort. Animals that Jackson County sells otherwise would be killed.

"There's people who want their dogs, if they're not going to be adopted, to be used for research," he said.

Jackson County has been selling animals for research for decades but hardly makes a huge profit from the sales. The county brought in $3,100 in 2003 from selling cats and dogs to dealer Fred Hodgins, who in turn sells the animals to 17 research facilities, and to Michigan State University.

Various animal-rescue groups have pledged to make up the lost revenue if commissioners banned sales, and speakers said Tuesday that the county would benefit in other ways. More people would bring in strays, knowing they couldn't face experimentation, while the shelter would draw in more volunteers who'd work to adopt out pets.

Cindy Moulton said she already has saved the county money through a local group called Forgotten Felines, which in three years has fixed or given rabies shots to some 400 cats. Banning sales for research, she said, would accelerate such efforts.

"We're saving you money right there, and we'll continue to do whatever we can to prevent strays from coming into your shelter," Moulton said.

For now, little will change in how the county shelter handles strays. Hodgins said he would work with the board's compromise, developed by Commissioner David Elwell, to document where the animals go.

Elwell's measure passed 11-1, with only Commissioner Robert Lacinski voting no.

Hodgins and a few supporters of the sales who spoke Tuesday said the research that's performed on strays offers insight into treatment for life-taking diseases and conditions.

"I'm more than willing to work with Mr. Elwell's proposition," Hodgins said. "You've been working with this (sales for research) for 35 years, and it's done a lot of good."

-- Reach reporter Brian Wheeler at 768-4928 or bwheeler@citpat.com.