Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
If my hearing has not gone completely awry, I believe, I heard Supervisor Ruffino bring up the dogs issue at 5:29 at the work session.
Councilman Burkard responded that he had spoke to Lieutenant Gummo and also the Erie COunty DA's office. He also stated that his understanding was that the DA's office is not taking a light look at this and they do expect a conviction.

I apologize if my hearing was incorrect.

It was not Councilmember Burkard who responded to Supervisor Ruffino, it was Town Attorney Fowler. He was responding to Ruffino’s query on town legal matters.

It is comforting to her that the county is involved and expecting a conviction. That conviction cannot come too soon as the findings will have an impact not only on the welfare and placement of the 6 dogs seized, but regarding the costs incurred for the 5 weeks the dogs have already been housed, the additional 3 weeks of sheltering, and possible continuance depending on rescheduled Oct 13 court hearing.

For the past 5 weeks a seized dangerous dog (along with 5 other dogs) is being housed in the Lancaster dog shelter. In that same period two Assistant dog control officers have resigned. The dog control department is grossly understaffed with weekend coverage unaccounted for.

Supervisor Ruffino spoke on a resolution he sponsored this past Monday favoring paying a part-time payroll clerk $18 an hour; that it was well justified in today’s economy. Paying a DCO $16 an hour to come in off-shift and care for sheltered animals appears to be unreasonable as there are hiring and maintaining staff issues.

How are the dogs cared for – fed / watered and kennels cleaned and maintained? What are caregivers being paid for visit and how many times are the dogs looked after in 24 hours? Are they exercised?

The 6 dogs in custody are Andrea White’s dogs. How long will they be in custody – court case delayed until October 13th. Depending on court findings the dogs could remain in custody longer. Who is picking up the tab?

Dog lives matter; apparently not so much to some individuals. It should have never come to this point!