Commission reviews Pintler Pets contract and reopens kennel-license concerns after neighbor complaints

Anaconda — The Anaconda Deer Lodge County Commission reviewed a proposed renewal of its contract with Pintler Pets and held an extended public discussion on kennel licensing, nuisance-animal enforcement and neighborhood complaints about dogs.

David Josephson, animal-control officer, told the commission Pintler Pets requested higher fees to cover increased costs: standard pickup/intake fees would rise from $75 to $100 and certain hoarding-case rates (10 or more animals) would go to $110. Josephson noted a drafting typo in the contract fee table and asked the commission to allow clarifying edits before final approval.

The discussion turned to how the county enforces complaints about feral cats, barking and animals at large. Commissioners and neighbors described repeated reports of animals roaming, nuisance barking and alleged puppy sales from the property in question.

"When I am able to catch them, yes. They're put down," Josephson said when describing treatment of feral animals under current practice and the county's nuisance-animal code provisions, which allow impoundment and euthanasia under specified conditions. He also said impounded animals are assigned a tracking number used to process county payments to the contractor.

The county attorney walked the commission through county ordinance section 4-22 (kennel-license/dog-count rules) and a state statute governing barking-dog regulation, noting that locally adopted ordinances cannot apply to dogs kept as part of licensed veterinary or boarding businesses. He clarified that the kennel license discussed by the commission governs personal possession of more than the allowed number of dogs and is distinct from a business license for boarding operations.

Licensee Joe Rado, who lives at 801 West 7th Street and operates kennels for four owned dogs and occasional boarded animals, told the commission he had invested roughly $4,672 and 68 hours of labor to relocate kennels, add buffers, purchase bark collars and deploy temporary noise monitors. Neighbors disputed whether the required relocation had occurred and described ongoing nuisance concerns.

The commission asked animal-control staff and the county attorney to continue the review, to correct contract language, and to consider bringing Pintler Pets representatives to a future meeting to answer questions. No final revocation or contract approval occurred during the session.

Next steps: staff will clean up contract language, attempt to schedule Pintler Pets representatives for questions at the next meeting, and continue the kennel-license review and enforcement follow-up.