Sheriff says shelters overwhelmed as county sees spike in stray and aggressive dogs

The county sheriff told the board that recent days have brought a high volume of dog-control complaints and that most local shelters and nonprofits are "completely overcrowded." He said the sheriff's office and partners are working to identify options for kenneling and staffing while acknowledging limited resources.

The sheriff described a recent incident just outside Dayton in which two aggressive dogs required about 2.5 hours to resolve and forced multiple deputies and a canine handler to respond; deputies used pepper spray and ultimately captured both dogs and transported them to a facility that could accept them. "We ended up spending about 2.5 hours with, I think it's some total of 5 sheriff's office personnel," the sheriff said.

Commissioners emphasized owner responsibility and warned about misinformation circulating on social media. One commissioner asked the sheriff to return with a list of options and asked staff to explore kennel contacts and funding pathways; no formal action was taken at the meeting.