Berrien County Animal Control has been struggling to house animals that belong to people who are caught up in the criminal justice system and waiting for court dates. Berrien County Commissioner Alex Ott told colleagues this week the shelter in Benton Township currently has 31 dogs that can’t be adopted and are waiting for their owners.
“There’s some concern those animals are held anywhere from six to eight months because they have to wait for the case to go through,” Ott said. “They cannot be put down legally. So, there was some discussion, they’re going to put a committee together to discuss with the prosecutor’s office, the attorney general’s office of Michigan to figure out how to move forward with case-held animals.”
Ott said they’re going to talk about creating a policy to cover these situations. He noted it costs the county $50 per day to hold such animals, adding if the owners can’t reclaim their dog, the animals can’t just be adopted out because they’ve been sheltered for the past several months or longer. One possibility is to require restitution from criminal suspects whose dogs have been sheltered by Berrien County Animal Control. The county administration committee was briefed on the issue Thursday.
