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Ripley Care urges county to adopt animal ordinances, fund a shelter and an animal-control officer
Summary
At a Ripley County commissioners meeting, Janine Ostendorf of Ripley Care urged the county to pass animal-control ordinances, create a county shelter and hire an animal-control officer, citing recent hoarding cases, full local rescues and projected population growth without intervention.
Janine Ostendorf, founder and CEO of Ripley Care, told commissioners the county is facing an escalating animal-overpopulation problem and urged immediate action: “We need animal ordinances and ACO and a county shelter,” she said, citing recent hoarding cases and a spay/neuter clinic that reached capacity.
Ostendorf presented local call-data and described a July response in which Ripley Care and partners took in 12 cats for spay/neuter. She said those 12 animals, if left unfixed, “can generate between 144 and 360 kittens in a year's time,” a figure she cited to illustrate the scale of the problem. She also said Ripley County Humane Society is operating over capacity and that the current dog warden is likely to retire in about 1.5 years.
Ostendorf gave rough cost figures and operational recommendations: she said a basic 30-by-40 building with concrete floors could list for about $23,900 before finishing costs and that a finished facility could approach $60,000; she also cited typical animal-control-officer salaries “around $44,000.” She urged the commissioners to prioritize writing county ordinances first so enforcement tools (fines, kennel permitting and fees) would be available to staff and deputies.
Commissioners and staff responded that the county commissioners had not included a shelter or ACO in their most-recent budget submission but that county council could still add funding during council budget hearings. The chair encouraged Ripley Care to seek a slot on the council’s budget hearing agenda and noted a local rabies clinic scheduled for Aug. 10. No formal county action was taken at the meeting; commissioners agreed to help facilitate Ripley Care’s presentation to council.
