Page 17 of 38 FirstFirst ... 7151617181927 ... LastLast
Results 241 to 255 of 560

Thread: Dog lives matter

  1. #241
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Received a notice from my vet today that alerted me to the following:

    Our nation is suffering a widespread labor shortage. More and more Americans are working from home or have left the workforce entirely. Hospitals, restaurants, banks retailers, etc. are trying to provide services with fewer employees. Sadly, veterinary medicine has not been spared. Our workforce is shrinking, yet due to the increase in pet acquisitions during the pandemic each veterinarian is responsible for approximately 1,000 dogs and cats. These conditions are presenting a difficult situation for our doctors and staff. Because of this, there are longer than usual wait times for appointments, refills, call backs, etc. Office hours are also being cut.

    While the private sector is being impacted from Covid, staffing shortages, medicinal shortages, etc., our dog control department is reporting like issues – especially in vet availability and increases in service costs.

    Examining the tentative budget that Supervisor Ruffino is sponsoring for board approval Monday evening, making it the adopted preliminary budget that will be presented for public review at the November 1st town board meeting, one finds the department budget request not only denied, but less than the previous year’s budget.

    The department budget request for 2022 is $143,415. The budget assigned is $130,437 – less than the $130,787 assigned in the 2021 budget. It is Supervisor Ruffino’s second budget as Supervisor, and he had cut the dog control budget in 2021 from the budgeted $151,695 in 2020 to $130,787.

    At a time when the department is experiencing staffing issues, a higher volume of complaints / dog bite incidents / increased service costs, and where there are more licensed / unlicensed dogs than in the past, the department budget is being decreased.

    The public should know that the department generates half its operational cost in license fee issuance and fines – which it should receive but goes into the General Fund.

    Where spending is increasing in the General Budget by 8.6%, it is difficult to understand why the decrease in the Dog Control budget when the town wound up paying over $100,000 more in construction cost for the new shelter for underestimating its cost, and in project delay, and when inflation is rampant and labor shortages exist.

  2. #242
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Once again there were no board or committee reports given at Monday night’s town board meeting. Nothing reported by Wozniak on the status of the dog shelter project.

    We have been informed that the project would be delayed for several weeks because of supply shortages and shipment delays.

    The shelter will be located adjacent (east) to the radio tower – relocated a few feet, not twenty-five feet east. Construction has begun on the building foundation.

    The town board appointed two part-time permanent position in the Town of Lancaster Dog Control Office working not more than nineteen and three-quarter hours per week, and that this being a part-time position, provides no health insurance, sick days, vacations, or other fringe benefits not specifically mandated for part-time permanent employees:

    Kim Offhaus & Elizabeth Bertozzi - $14.00 per hour.

  3. #243
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post

    The town board appointed two part-time permanent position in the Town of Lancaster Dog Control Office working not more than nineteen and three-quarter hours per week, and that this being a part-time position, provides no health insurance, sick days, vacations, or other fringe benefits not specifically mandated for part-time permanent employees:

    Kim Offhaus & Elizabeth Bertozzi - $14.00 per hour.
    Finally some much needed, and deserved, staff for an over-burdened office.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  4. #244
    Member gorja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Lancaster, NY
    Posts
    13,150
    I talked to the dog control lady on Monday and she said it had started.

    The two employees for dog control weren't new employees. They were temporary seasonal in May and their 5 months was up.
    It's similar to the park employees that people complain about. Temporary in the summer and permanent PT in the winter.

    Georgia L Schlager

  5. #245
    Member gorja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Lancaster, NY
    Posts
    13,150
    I was there today to drop a donation off and never drove back far enough to look

    Georgia L Schlager

  6. #246
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    I talked to the dog control lady on Monday and she said it had started.

    The two employees for dog control weren't new employees. They were temporary seasonal in May and their 5 months was up.
    It's similar to the park employees that people complain about. Temporary in the summer and permanent PT in the winter.

    The two employees are the same as hired for the summer. The difference here is that the one employee’s hours are being cut from 35 hours per week to 19-3/4.

    The department is already short-staffed – the DCO at 35 hours, two assistant DCO’s at 19-3/4 hours, one twice/ month call in, and one working Sundays. And the department budget is once again being cut.

    Where Tim Hortons is now paying $16/hr. (and higher), the dog control assistants are earning $14/hr. – on call and where dog bite incidents are increasing.

    As for construction status, the attached pics display the progress.

    Dog shelter - 10-21-21 (1).jpg

    Dog shelter - 10-21-21 (2).jpg

  7. #247
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    The two employees are the same as hired for the summer. The difference here is that the one employee’s hours are being cut from 35 hours per week to 19-3/4.

    The department is already short-staffed – the DCO at 35 hours, two assistant DCO’s at 19-3/4 hours, one twice/ month call in, and one working Sundays. And the department budget is once again being cut.

    Where Tim Hortons is now paying $16/hr. (and higher), the dog control assistants are earning $14/hr. – on call and where dog bite incidents are increasing.
    Lee, just one question.

    Is the kennel staffed 24/7 or does the human supervision stop with the end of the work day?

    I ask that question for a rather personal reason.

    In throughout the 1980s and the very early 1990s, I had a wonderful dog who, twice daily Dilantin not withstanding, suffered grand mal seizures every 6-9 months, or whenever stressful situations were present.

    I personally know of the frightening circumstances, and just wonder if such concerns are in anyway addressed in the absence of direct human oversight.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  8. #248
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    Any ideas how deep are those piles?

    I assume that the depth is at least 36" to address the frost line issue.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  9. #249
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    Any ideas how deep are those piles?

    I assume that the depth is at least 36" to address the frost line issue.

    These are the footers that were installed.

    Look about 12-18 inches into the ground.

    Dog shelter footers (1).jpg

    Dog shelter footers (2).jpg

  10. #250
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    These are the footers that were installed.

    Look about 12-18 inches into the ground.

    Dog shelter footers (1).jpg

    Dog shelter footers (2).jpg
    I'm not an engineer so I don't understand the engineering behind this Lee. They may have a sound plan, but I'm not understanding it.

    If the building is being constructed on a floating slab, I would think that there would be no foundation period.

    If I am understanding this project correctly, this structure is being constructed with "piles" or "caissons," but whatever name called, 18" deep, but those caissons show no evidence of something to secure the skeletal/wall material to.

    More concerning, even a masonry porch has a 36" deep footer so that the final product is not impacted by frost.

    What in Hell is a series of 18" caissons going to guard against, the dogs digging something up?

    Explanation please!
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  11. #251
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Dog lives matter, but not so much to the town’s Dog Control Committee Members Councilman Wozniak (Chair), Supervisor Ruffino and Councilman Mazur. They all voted ‘no’ to Leary’s resolution to modify the Dog Control resolution Tuesday evening.

    At Tuesday’s Special Board Meeting to vote on 2022 budget modifications, Councilman Leary presented a resolution to approve the requested $65,624 Dog Control Department budget line item for Assistant Dog Control Officers – instead of the allotted $54,376 in the proposed budget.

    Leary requested Dog Control Department Head Jean Karn address the board and present data validating her requested budget amount vs, amount budgeted.

    Karn presented the following:

    The job of Town of Lancaster Dog Control is to enforce State laws and local ordinances as related to dogs, to take custody of loose or dangerous dogs, and to humanely care for any dogs in our custody.

    The demands on our department have grown since the pandemic and are continuing to increase with the ongoing growth of the Town and addition of the new dog park in since June that we have not housed dogs in our kennels.

    The Town Board recently approved Special Use Permits for residents to open kennels and sell dogs. According to these resolutions, our Lancaster Dog Control officers now must physically inspect the premises to verify compliance. Additionally, new procedures set by the Supervisor’s Office now require me to enter all the invoices from our purchases into a website, which is time consuming office work.

    Also, I must personally appear in court in the Town, the Village of Lancaster, and the Village of Depew, and follow through on all court cases since my employees have other jobs and cannot attend court or follow through on cases due to the limit on the number of hours they are allowed to work.

    The number of calls we are taking is increasing and the calls have been getting more dangerous. At least once a week, we respond to dog bite calls. Last year in 2020, we received 2,225 calls. This year LDC received 2,439 calls and we still have three months to go. Earlier this year one of my employees was attacked by a dog and she will have permanent scarring. Many of the people that we deal with are the same people who the police regularly deal with. Some of them have fighting dogs, which we have been required to take custody of and to hold in our shelter.

    Lancaster Dog Control is expected to cover calls for service and take care of animals in our custody 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which is 168 hours per week. Right now, my employees can cover 61 hours per week. How am I expected to run an entire department that runs full time on a part time staff? At this point it is impossible to manage this department properly and efficiently.

    I work 35 hours per week and am the only Department head in the entire town that is considered part time. As of now I do not have any coverage for 3 nights out of the week and must hope that no one calls off for their shift for the other nights.

    Last week, two of my employees were dropped back down to part time permanent hours of 19.75 hours per week. I did put in a request with Erie County and was denied the ability to have these employees continue working 35 hours per week. Currently I have 4 part time employees working for Lancaster Dog Control. One employee only works Sundays for 11.5 hours, another employee works approximately 10 hours per week, and I have 2 other employees who can only work 19.75 hours per week but are willing to work more hours.

    All my employees currently make $14.00 per hour. I am not aware of any local businesses that pay that low of a wage to their experienced employees. Even new McDonald’s employees are making $16.00 per hour. This job can be dangerous, and it is very hard to find the right employees to work this job.

    During Covid all dog control officers were considered essential personnel. My employees worked the entire time throughout the pandemic, including entering houses to retrieve dogs if their owners ended up in the hospital due t0 Covid.

    I am asking the Town to increase my employees’ hours and pay. I do not want to lose trained, experienced, and hard-working employees who can all leave tomorrow and get paid more at any fast-food restaurant. It is very unlikely that I could find quality replacement workers willing to handle dogs that can sometimes be dangerous, while working only weekends and evenings.

    Lancaster Dog Control does bring in revenue for the town. This revenue includes dog licensing fees, which are supposed to remain within the dog control budget, according to the NYS Agriculture and Markets Laws. We also bring in redemption fees for seized dogs and court fines. This year so far from January to August we issued 88 court tickets. The Town court has only collected $175.00 in fines. The Town is losing a lot of revenue through the Town Court. This revenue could be used to pay for additional hours for my employees.

    For the 2022 budget I am asking for myself to be made a full-time hourly employee and Elizabeth Bertozzi be given a salaried part time position of 35 hours per week at $18.00 per ho. I am also asking that one or more of the other part-time DCOs be allowed to work up to 35 hours on a seasonal basis during the warmer months of the year, when we are usually busier. This, along with an increase in the part-time DCOs’ pay to $16.00/hour, should allow us to ensure we have coverage during more of the week.

    I would remind the Board that the Town is morally and legally (NYS Ag & Markets Law Article. 26, Section. 356) obligated to feed, water and physically check on the welfare of the dogs that we house a minimum of every 12 hours. In the recent past, our DCOs have discovered dogs who had become very ill or had gotten their heads stuck in the fencing during these checks. If I was allowed to have our employees work these additional hours, it would help us to better serve our residents’ needs and to make sure that all of the dogs in our custody, including many beloved family pets, receive the compassionate care that they deserve.

    Dog Control Committee Chair Wozniak commented:

    He wants to maintain standards and requirements but with less money

    He wants to share services with other towns, but "handshake agreements."

    He is asking the DCO to change or to make more specific its standard operating procedure.

    Wozniak said that he was in the Dog Control Office only one time.

    Wozniak suggested hiring a part time clerk typist???

    Ms. Karn interjected that Clarence spends much more money in the dog control area, and that her personnel is paid less that they were paid 1o or 15 years ago.

    Wozniak suggested soliciting volunteers to feed the dogs.

  12. #252
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Lee, I had a horrible time discerning Wozniak's comments.

    To me, with his apparent misuse of his microphone, Wozniak's' clarity was more compromised than were Marlon Brando's lines in The Godfather, which is said that he spoke with a mouth full of marbles, eh?

    (Zoom/Magnify On Your Device To Enlarge Image.)

    Last edited by mark blazejewski; October 27th, 2021 at 10:59 AM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  13. #253
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    8,922
    Dog Shelter Progress - 10-27-2021

    Dog Shelter progress 10-27-21.jpg

  14. #254
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5,307
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    Dog Shelter Progress - 10-27-2021

    Dog Shelter progress 10-27-21.jpg
    A entirely wooden skeleton for a metal building?
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  15. #255
    Member gorja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Lancaster, NY
    Posts
    13,150
    Originally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
    Ms. Karn interjected that Clarence spends much more money in the dog control area
    It looks like the building is coming along. Just one question. Doesn't the Town of Clarence dog control also take her of the larger Town of Amherst's dogs too?

    Georgia L Schlager

Page 17 of 38 FirstFirst ... 7151617181927 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. All lives matter
    By Yankeefan2009 in forum USA Politics and Our Economy - President Joe Biden
    Replies: 85
    Last Post: September 3rd, 2015, 08:11 PM
  2. Black Lives Matter
    By FMD in forum Speakup Here
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: August 10th, 2015, 05:42 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •