Mulderry resigns
Animal control takes dogged effort



NEW SCOTLAND – Dogs provide companionship, security, and, at the end of the day, you can count on your dog being happy to see you.

Like children, dogs have minds of their own, and sometimes, they do things you wish they wouldn’t – like run away.
"Anyone can lose a dog," said Eileen Mulderry, an animal lover who recently ended a seven month stint as an animal-control officer in New Scotland. She left with some complaints about her supervisor, Highway Superintendent Darrell Duncan, and nothing but praise for her co-worker, Kevin Schenmeyer.

Since Mulderry left in early April, Schenmeyer, a highway department worker, who has been doing the job for about seven years, has been aided by Duncan, while the town searches for a replacement.

The animal-control program in New Scotland is run out of the town’s highway department, and is overseen by Duncan.

Duncan said the program is the same as it has always been. He steps in when someone is on vacation, or the program is understaffed, which has been a recurring problem over the years.

The Enterprise reported in August of 2005 that the town was trying to decide how to proceed with the program after two of the three animal-control officers quit. Schenmeyer was the sole officer at the time, and made an annual salary of $5,767 for the job.
The program is "very important," Duncan said. "As more animals are introduced," into the town, he said, it is essential to be able to maintain control of the animals and "help keep people safe" We try to do the best we can."
"I think we have a good program," Supervisor Ed Clark told The Enterprise this week. "The problem is keeping it staffed" It starts as an attractive source of revenue, and becomes a headache." He said he thinks that people get tired of being constantly on call.
"The program is his responsibility, and he wants it to succeed, so he’s filling in," Clark said of Duncan. "I’m completely satisfied that he’s doing a responsible job," he added.
The town is currently seeking applicants for two highway positions, and Clark said that he hopes one of the individuals hired for either of those positions might be interested in animal control. But, if not, "We’ll just have to look elsewhere."

On call 24/7
Schenmeyer said that the position is part-time; he doesn’t "put in an eight-hour day per se." He is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wears a pager, and must answer his pages within minutes. "We work with animals and the owners," he said.

In the seven months that Mulderry was an animal-control officer, she handled an average of two or three loose dogs per month, she said.

Schenmeyer has worked for the highway department for nearly 20 years, he said. His job makes being an animal-control officer easier because he knows the roads really well, he said.
He likes the job "for the most part," he said, but , "it’s a little tough sometimes."
Mulderry echoed those sentiments. "It’s a really hard job in a lot of ways," she told The Enterprise. "It involves everything – injured wildlife, loose dogs, a horse running down Font Grove Road" It’s a very necessary job."

When Schenmeyer and Mulderry were sharing the job, each would be on call for a week, and then have a week off.
"We had a great working relationship," Mulderry said of working with Schenmeyer. "Kevin Schenmeyer is the most phenomenal animal-caring person" The best partner anyone could ask to work with," she said.
Spring is a very busy time of year for animal control, Schenmeyer said. It is the "nature of the business," he said. "People get careless" and animals get more curious."

The job of the animal control officer is to enforce town laws as well as the state’s Agriculture and Markets Law, Schenmeyer said.
According to the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets, "Every licensing town, city, or village must have a Dog Control Officer and municipal shelter services."

The town of New Scotland has a contract with the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society in Menands, Clark told The Enterprise this week.
A dog found to be sick or injured, is taken to a veterinarian, Clark said. "If we know whose dog it is, we would try to get the owner to pay the vet bill," he said. "We pay it if we have to" We don’t like it, but that’s how it goes."

Clark said that, because the town is the party that physically brings the dog to the vet, it can’t legally require the owner to pay the bill.

When a loose dog is picked up, Clark said, there are several things that could happen.

The animal control officer first tries to identify the dog’s owner and return it to him or her. Otherwise, the animal is either held overnight to see if the owner appears, or it is taken to the shelter in Menands.
If the animal is held overnight, "We would keep it in a confined space at the highway garage," Clark explained.
"If we take them to Menands, they won’t release the dogs unless they’re licensed," Clark said.

Licensing

When asked how many dogs are in the town, Clark told The Enterprise, "That’s a very good question."
He could provide the number of dogs that are licensed in the town, but, he said, "A lot of people have dogs that aren’t licensed."
"Every dog regardless of age, owned or harbored in New York State for longer than 30 days must be licensed in the town, city, or village where the dog is being harbored," according to New York’s Agriculture and Markets Law.
"Some people don’t even know there is a licensing law," Mulderry said. When a dog is licensed, and it gets loose, she said, " We can look at the tag, run it through the computer and find out whose dog it is."

In order to license a dog, the animal must have proof of a rabies vaccination signed by a licensed veterinarian, and proper certification if it has been spayed or neutered, the law states.

Animals that have been spayed or neutered cost $4.50 for a year-long license; otherwise it’s $12.50, Schenmeyer said. Dogs can be licensed at Town Hall on Route 85.
"If we don’t have an avenue to return the animal, we use the Menands shelter," Schenmeyer told The Enterprise. "It’s a lot easier to keep them licensed and tagged and at home."

Shelter issues

The town sets the amount of days the dogs are held at the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, which is about a 30- to 45-minute drive from New Scotland, Schenmeyer said.
"We usually try to wait 10 days," he said. "It gives people a little extra time" We try to give the animal the benefit of the doubt."
When the 10 days are up, said Schenmeyer, "They do what they see fit. If it’s an animal they don’t foresee adopting out," then the animal may be euthanized.

The town implements fines of up to $100 for unlicensed dogs and loose dogs, Mulderry said.
"We just write the tickets and the judges take it from there," Schenmeyer said. "It’s basically putting all your ducks in a row, and following proper procedures."
The Menands facility is used by many towns in the area, and, this year, "it hit municipalities pretty hard," Schenmeyer said. A contract that is usually around $2,000 or $3,000 jumped up to $9,000 or $10,000, he said. "It caught a lot of people off guard."
The facility has "been overwhelmed over the years, and they’re trying to under-whelm themselves," Schenmeyer hypothesized. They also wanted to turn over licensing and vaccinations duties to the municipalities, he said.
The shelter will not release a dog to its owner unless it is licensed, Schenmeyer said. He said that, as far as he knows, the shelter is still giving vaccinations. He hasn’t had to bring any animals to Menands lately. "We’ve been able to find owners," he said.
Every year, during "budget season," the town discusses animal control and whether the job needs to be made into a full-time position, and if the town needs to have a facility of its own, Duncan told The Enterprise.
"It’d probably be a good thing" It’s a possibility," Schenmeyer said, of New Scotland having its own facility in the future. "Things could be kept closer and more local."

Schenmeyer added that a shelter shared with other towns, could save money.
Mulderry said she would like to see more discussion at town meetings about what should be done with the animal-control program. A full-time animal control officer and a facility in town would provide "protection for people and their animals," she said.

The job
"I’ve been unofficially doing the job for years," Mulderry told The Enterprise. "Really, they just started paying me for what I was already doing."
She said that she won’t stop helping animals because she is no longer getting paid. While she was an animal-control officer, Mulderry said that roughly a third of the situations she logged, "were things I came upon in driving in my daily life" I didn’t need to be on duty to respond.
"I’m sad that I’m not doing the job anymore," she said. "I loved that job."
Mulderry said that she felt "disrespected" by Duncan, and that is why she left. "He was always looking for something I might have done wrong, instead of appreciating all I had done right."

In response to Mulderry’s allegation, Duncan told The Enterprise, "That’s her opinion. I didn’t have any problems with her."Mulderry said that she knows all the dogs she dealt with in the seven months she spent in the job. "I probably picked up 16 dogs since I started" I know every one of them and their names."
Schenmeyer said that he doesn’t do the job for the money, "I do it more for the animals. I wanted to help get the animals back to the proper people."
Schenmeyer is paid a salary for the days he is on call. The pay is the same if he receives two calls, or 20 calls, he said. "That is one reason there’s not a lot of people standing in line for this job," he said.
Mulderry, while working as an animal control officer, became aware of how necessary the position is, she said. "Somebody has to be doing this job" I just want the animals to be cared for," she said.
"It’s not a job for everybody" I enjoy working with the animals; the people are a little more difficult sometimes," Schenmeyer said.