The Belmont County Commission is under no legal obligation to offer the Belmont County Animal Rescue League any more than $50 in funding per month for the employment of a human officer.
Under Section 955 of the Ohio Revised Code, the three members of the Belmont County Commission are financially responsible for the operation of a dog shelter and, while the state does have animal cruelty laws on the books, only the county’s humane officer is responsible for enforcing those codes.
Denise Nally, the current director of BCARL until July 29, presented a proposal to the three commissioners in early June, requesting as much as $40,000 to fund the position of humane officer and monies for caring for the animals. The Commission returned at the end of the month with the approval of a $10,000 one-time contribution.
“The Commission has had a relationship with BCARL for several years and we have allotted funds to the non-profit in the past. But we entered into an agreement with previous management that the numbers of dollars the Commission would contribute would decrease each year,” explained Belmont County Commissioner JP Dutton. “This year that number was $10,000 so that is what we informed Denise Nally after she had asked us to fully fund the humane officer and split the cost of the organization’s veterinarian bills.
“So, what Mrs. Nally really asked for was for the Commission to contribute between $70,000-$80,000 and we did not feel comfortable with that because of our previous agreements with the animal rescue league,” he said. “They did tell us their finances were bad but I did not think they were going to shut down this week. I guess that’s what their board decided and I hated to see that.”
Nally said a month ago although she was hopeful when addressing the Commission, she also was realistic about the county’s role for the animal rescue league.
“We were hopeful the Commission would help us although we knew they were not bound to do much at all,” Nally explained in mid-June on River Talk 100.1/100.9 FM. “It was an avenue we wanted to try and we did and they came back with the decision that they made.”
The non-profit’s board voted this week to cease operations as soon as possible and, in fact, Nally already has contacted county officials to inform them BCARL has surrendered all duties involved with the humane officer’s job description. The organization plans to sell all assets, Nally said this week, once the four dogs and 25 cats in its care are adopted.
