Dog Impoundments Down Year to Year

The number of dogs impounded at Kent's kennel has dropped every year for the past 16 years.

That annual drop is a trend Kent's compliance officer, Dana Frasier, attributes to responsible residents — and strong enforcement of the city's animal laws.

Frasier gave an overview of his job with the handling animal and parking issues to the  Thursday as part of the group's second session.

Dog program a success

Frasier started his job managing animal complaints for the city 16 years ago, and in that first year he impounded 216 dogs. The next year, that number fell to about 186. It has continued to fall each year, and 2010 saw 88 dogs impounded at the city's kennel throughout the year.

"We have a very successful program here in Kent," Frasier said.

Of those 88 dogs, 62 were returned to their owners, 10 were adopted to new homes, five were adopted by the Portage Animal Protective League, and 11 were taken to the county dog warden.

"Most of the dogs taken to the county were pitbulls or old and infirmed that nobody came looking for," he said.

The city runs a free adoption program for dogs impounded and not claimed after 72 hours. Kent's new kennel, located at the southwest corner of the city service building at Mogadore Road and Cherry Street, is open during daylight hours for people who need to claim their dog or are looking for a new pet.

Frasier takes some of the credit for the successful program and continual reduction in dog impound numbers. But he gives most of the credit to knowledgeable, responsible dog owners in Kent.

"When was the last time you saw a sign in Kent that said 'free puppies?' That's a tremendous reduction in dogs being picked up in the city," he said.

Cats focus of enforcement

Cats in Kent are another story.

Six years ago, the city adopted a cat ordinance that says if someone feeds or cares for a cat for 48 hours, they are deemed its owner. The reason, Frasier said, was to try and limit people from feeding cats en masse in neighborhoods while leaving them to run wild.

"Cats ... when we started out were a problem when you had people who were feeding cats and accumulating large numbers of cats," Frasier said. "You couldn't call it hoarding because they weren't keeping them inside the house."

Frasier recalled one story where a man was feeding and harboring 35 cats in his garage who was taken to court four times. He was eventually evicted and the cats removed. In another story — that drew laughter from the academy members — Frasier recanted how one man was pouring out bags of cat food every day in one neighborhood to feed stray and pet cats so his mother could watch from a nearby apartment building.

"We laugh, but large numbers of cats have and spread feline leukemia," Frasier said. "Which means they have to be put down. There's nothing they can do to treat them."

The city has a contract with the PAPL that, for a $40 fee per cat, the PAPL will take six cats per month from the city to test for feline leukemia, spay or neuter and try to adopt. Frasier said he usually meets that six-cat limit within the first week of every month.

"I seem to be going on on cats because it's one of the greatest problems I have at the time," he said.

Parking 'upsets people most'

As compliance officer, Frasier said he spends about 80 percent of his time managing parking problems.

"I have a lot of nicknames in the city of Kent," he said. "Some of you have probably heard some of them. None of them are very nice."

There are 49 different possible parking violations on the books in Kent. Most days, Frasier is on foot or driving his police Jeep around the city chalking tires and tracking parking compliance. The most violations come from people who park longer than two hours in spots downtown designated for two-hour parking only.

"(Parking) is one of the things that upsets people more than anything else," he said. "Parking (downtown) is enforced to keep spaces open and available for customers of businesses. The biggest violators remain business owners and employees."

Frasier reminded the academy crowd that they can craft — or change — the city's parking legislation by encouraging their city council representative to take up their issue.