Perry County shelter sets limits on after-hours field pickups; contract update requested

PERRY COUNTY — The county’s contracted animal shelter told Perry County commissioners on Feb. 2 that it will stop routinely responding to after-hours calls in the field, a change its director said is needed to preserve limited shelter resources and protect staff.

"This charge is in effect if I have to leave my home after hours," Speaker 4 said, identifying herself in discussion as Molly and describing herself as the shelter operator contracted to provide animal services for the county and Tel City. She told the commission the shelter will continue to allow law-enforcement officers to place animals in an outside kennel at the facility 24 hours a day at no charge, but she can no longer drive county roads to capture strays or respond to hoarding and aggressive-dog calls without compensation or contractual authority.

Molly said the shelter operates on a tight budget and that she and a three-person staff cannot sustain additional, unpaid after-hours work. She recounted a recent, close encounter on Highway 66 that underscored safety and liability risks and said those concerns prompted a ‘‘hard boundary’’ on field responses.

Commission members acknowledged the shelter’s staffing and liability concerns and asked county staff to review existing contracts. The presiding official (Speaker 1) said county staff — including Andrew and David Wackerberg, who were named in the meeting — should be made aware and that the commission will determine how after-hours responses will be handled in the future. "We need to determine exactly how that will be hand handled in the event Dave needs assistance," Speaker 1 said.

Staff noted the existing interlocal arrangements have changed: the interlocal agreement used for previous payments broke in 2024 and payments from some towns now go directly to the shelter. Commissioners said Andrew will work with shelter leadership to produce an updated contract reflecting current payment flows and any new compensation for after-hours responses. Molly said she will sign updated documents when they are ready.

Next steps: county staff will draft a contract update for the shelter and return to the board with proposed language clarifying after-hours duties, compensation and law-enforcement access to the shelter’s outside kennel.