County moves animal control to sheriff; Avon police seek council consensus not to handle nonaggressive stray runs

Town staff and Chief Sean Stoops told the council the county has shifted animal-control responsibilities to the sheriff's office and will limit sheriff response to aggressive animals. The change means many nonaggressive or stray-animal runs previously handled by county animal control will no longer be picked up by county staff.

Chief Stoops said the sheriff's department will respond to aggressive-animal incidents, but the shelter and county policy no longer provide routine pickups or nonaggressive quarantining. "I don't want our officers responding to any of these runs," Stoops told the council, citing a lack of training, equipment and quarantine facilities and stressing officer and animal safety.

Staff reported municipalities in the region were surprised by the timing and that several towns had not been consulted. The town manager recommended pursuing a united municipal approach with Plainfield, Danville and other towns to press the county commissioners for a collaborative solution rather than the county "dumping" responsibility on towns.

Council members raised questions about liability and costs; staff estimated they lacked data on run quantity but offered a rough contractor cost guess in the range of $50,000–$60,000 annually (not a firm estimate). Chief Stoops proposed an interim policy: Avon officers would not be dispatched to nonaggressive/stray animal runs unless there was an immediate public-safety threat.

Next steps: Council signaled support for a united municipal response to the commissioners and for staff to explore contractor options and cost estimates; the chief asked for council consensus to withhold Avon patrol response to nonaggressive animal calls until a solution is reached.