Special county commission meeting scheduled for animal shelter and control issues

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29-03-2025

princeton – Homeless pets filling the county animal shelter and roaming the countryside will be the topic April 7 of a special Mercer County Commission meeting.
The Mercer County Commission will meet on Tuesday, April 7, at 6 p.m. at the Mercer County Courthouse to discuss the animal control issues. The meeting will be held in the courtroom of Judge William Sadler.
Large numbers of homeless dogs and cats have kept the Mercer County Animal Shelter full to the point where Code Red conditions were declared several times this year and last year. Roaming dogs have been a problem in some communities. During the March 25 county commission meeting, Alan Vest of Matoaka asked the commissioners who was in charge of picking up stray dogs. Vest said that dogs were getting into his trash regularly and causing other problems.
Sheriff Alan Christian said his department was picking up dogs suffering abuse and neglect, but his humane officers could not pick up stray dogs. Humane officers are not tasked with collecting roaming dogs. Dog wardens have the job of picking up stray dogs and Mercer County does not have one at this time.
Commissioner Greg Puckett said the animal shelter was working to make space, but the fact that the county has so many stray dogs means that emptied dog runs are filled again after dogs are taken to other states by animal rescue organizations.
The county has problems addressing dog issues due to a lack of regulations. Puckett said one owner in Matoaka has over 50 dogs.
'We know that,' he said. 'We've got to be able to figure out a way to take care of that situation.'
Commissioner Brian Blankenship, who works for the city of Princeton, said that when he took office Jan. 1, the lack of regulations out in the county surprised him.
'I was appalled when I started Jan. 1,' he said. 'The county is the wild, wild west. Why are we the wild, wild west? Anybody can do anything you want, when you want it, in regards to your neighbors. That makes no sense to me.'
Christian said that he had been speaking with the county commission for two weeks about getting a dog warden. After the meeting, he had calls from people who viewed the meeting on Facebook asking him if he supported euthanizing animals.
'I think it made it sound like I am in favor of euthanizing animals. I am not,' Christian said Thursday. 'I am not in favor of euthanizing animals. As a matter of fact, under state law, what I was trying to get across to the folks was the sheriff and the sheriff's department, we're going to follow that law as it's written. And it states we can't do anything with those animals until we've had them for five days. So when I made the comment that we were getting rid of those animals that we picked up and then get four more, I wasn't necessarily trying to say that I was euthanizing them, but it gives us an opportunity to re-home, get them to a rescue, whatever.'
'Now I'm not naive enough to believe that in some cases euthanization wouldn't come into play, but for the sheriff, that can only be ordered by a veterinarian, a judge or at the direction of the shelter,' he said. 'I as the sheriff have no authority to euthanize any animals without the authorization of one of those three folks or three entities, that is.'
Christian said he believed that the commissioners are 'on the right track' about dealing with Mercer County's animal problems.
'They're going to bring in some consultants and give us some direction on how to do this job a little bit better as it relates to moving these animals without causing them harm,' he said.
The sheriff's department must follow state law when dealing with animals, Christian said.
'Yes, we will follow the law and the law states that our humane officers cannot pick up strays,' he said. 'That's done by a dog warden, which is appointed by the county commission. I have been working with the county commission and we're going to title my humane officers with the dog warden title as well, just so we can start trying to fix the problem in the community and hopefully we can get this thing going and get these dogs taken care of in a humane fashion without having to destroy any of them.'
The sheriff's department is not for euthanasia, but there are rules which must be followed, Christian said.
'There's going to be some that ask why are we not euthanizing right off the bat and my thing was we have to hold them for five days,' he said. 'Right now we don't have a dog warden, but my animal control officers now, their capacity is going to be for mistreated or inhumanly treated animals. They're not authorized just to pick up stray dogs. We're going to get it fixed. We're going to get it fixed without having to destroy a bunch of animals, so we're trying.'
Christian said the public can share ideas with him.
'Any questions or concerns or ideas, I'm glad to take those although I do not have a direct role with the dog shelter, I do not mind relaying those messages their ideas to them,' he said. 'I'm in and out all day. I have pretty much an open-door policy. If they catch me here, I'm happy to talk to them about anything in the community. Not just dogs. You name it, that's what I'm here for.'
Contact Greg Jordan at
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