These new laws are more costly than what they had and basically do not address the issues they complain about. They consistently claim the animals needed a voice and complained that the laws weren’t tough enough on animal abuse as they saw it. They complained that people got a slap on the wrist for animal abuse because of the laws. Even though the old laws were sufficient, the courts are the final arbiter of the sentence that the abuser receives. They also don’t realize that animal control is not a police force and does not have the authority to exert police powers over citizens…

This brings us to the last few months and the fact that they were asking the CCSPCA to perform more under these new laws with absolutely no increase in funding and a frozen budget for the last few years. The same thing they are doing to the Sheriffs department now that they are the dog catchers. (They reduced the Sheriffs budget as he asked for more officers to deal with drug problems and they now are saddled with being the county dog catcher.) The CCSPCA was being asked to perform functions that they felt were not beneficial or in some cases constitutional and could lead to lawsuits. Of course in these contracts Cecil County is indemnified from being involved so the CCSPCA was on the hook to defend themselves against these new laws. Without a budget increase and all the new duties, they executed the clause in the contract which dissolved their relationship with the county. That was something the county hadn’t prepared for which leaves us with the interim plan. Again the animal rights activists are not happy, so a new RFP was issued which brings us up to now.

Yes the CCSPCA is bidding on it as they can now make their proposal based on the new laws the same as Buddy for Life can. Businesses do this all the time with contracts, it is just good business sense… That leaves us where we are now: Buddy for Life that has questionable contacts in the county government and the CCSPCA that has actual experience in running a business. Let’s see who wins.

I’m sure the animal rights activists won’t be happy unless they are given the keys to the kingdom. You ask who started all this mess and now leaves us where we are? I am sure the name Mindy Carletti will go down in Cecil County history as the person who with her friends left an impression on Cecil County we will soon not forget…