Issues pertaining to the Tri-County Animal Shelter, located in Clinton County, continues to linger and was once again a major topic of discussion for Clinton Fiscal Court members at the monthly meeting held last Thursday, September 15 with all members present.

At last week’s session, however, the court took some major steps which will hopefully alleviate many, if not all, of the problems at the embattled shelter, which has been under scrutiny from social and mainstream news media outlets and animal rights groups far and wide for the past few months.

Among the court’s decisions on the shelter last week including hiring a new part-time shelter coordinator and the most major, being to give notice to neighboring Wayne County a 60 day notice of Clinton County’s intent to sever the shelter use contract with Wayne County.

Unlike in some meetings past when the courtroom was packed by people interested in the issue, only a few people were in attendance last week who spoke, including the newly named coordinator, Janet Brummett, who had served in an unpaid assistant coordinator capacity the past several weeks.

Apparently Peyton Booher, of Burkesville, who had originally been hired, has since resigned.

Clinton County Judge/Executive Richard Armstrong recommended that Brummett move up to the coordinator’s job, with the same stipulations as Booher, that being a part-time, 96 hour per month paid position.

Half of the court members, however, didn’t feel like hiring another coordinator would fix the problems.

Magistrate Mickey Riddle was the first to say the county should not hire anyone, but judge Armstrong countered that without a coordinator, the many animals brought to the shelter could not be adopted out.

Riddle said, “We have been burned two or three times,” apparently referring to the volunteers and the one past coordinator.

Deputy Judge Joy Armstrong, who has been involved in the issue since the beginning and herself has volunteered time at the shelter, said the facility was now progressing ahead. “People are scrutinizing everything we do,” she said.

She also added the best times to have the shelter open would be on weekends, when more people and rescuers can actually pick up the animals. She also noted the coordinator needed a key (to the shelter) to accommodate those who do come to adopt animals.

Joy Armstrong also added the recent publicity has “opened our eyes to see what we need to do out there. “She also added that Tri-County is a “kill” shelter and noted the importance of adopting animals out to keep them from being put down.

Judge Armstrong also added that “it is looking much better (at the shelter) since last month.”

Prior to the vote to hire her as director, Brummett was given a brief time to address the court and she informed those present about progress that has been, and continues to be made at the shelter.

A spokesperson for the group Kentuckians Vote for Animals also briefly addressed the court, saying there was a tremendous amount of people willing to help make the shelter better, but also said there are still issues that need to be taken care of, such as insuring the animals at the shelter are healthy.

That spokesperson also recommended a committee to be formed on the shelter issue and further suggested using work release inmates to work at the facility to keep it clean, the animals fed, etc.

Following the discussion, magistrate Hershell Key made the motion to hire Brummett as part-time coordinator at 96 hours per month.

The motion resulted in a three-three tie, with magistrates Terry Buster and Johnny Russell voting yes and magistrates Riddle, Ricky Craig, and Patty Guinn voting no. Judge Armstrong broke the tie with a yes vote.

Riddle said about the issue, “We are going to have problems no matter what we do. If we do everything possible, we’re still going to have problems.”

The second action taken by the court had little controversy, with at least five being in full support, that being judge Armstrong’s recommendation to end the contract for shelter use with nearby Wayne County. He recommended giving that county a 60 day notice of the plans to get out of the contract.

The Tri-County Animal Shelter began with an agreement between Clinton, Cumberland and Wayne counties, but over time, Wayne County has been a factor in what some perceive a major problem at the shelter, including having too many animals to take care of.

Judge Armstrong brought that to light when he gave numbers on each county pertaining to the number of animals on a monthly basis each brings to the shelter to house.

As an example, Armstrong said in one recent month, Wayne County had brought 171 animals to the shelter. This compares to less than 30 per month from Clinton County and less than 20 from Cumberland. Armstrong recommended staying in the contract with Cumberland County.

Clinton County Assistant County Attorney Gary Little, filling in for county attorney Michael Rains, who could not attend the meeting, briefly reviewed the shelter contract with the court.

Little noted the contract usually runs on an annual basis, starting in May of each year but advised the court did apparently have the contractual right to terminate with the other counties if notice is given. He further added, when questioned about the possibility of a civil action, that, “better we be sued (for this) than being sued by someone for cruelty to animals,” referring to that fact as a possibility of the overcrowding at the shelter would warrant such action. Under the circumstances, he said, we can’t deal with the overload (of animals) from Wayne County.

Magistrate Key, although voting for the measure, did note that each county owned one-third of the facility and could force the sale of the shelter.

Judge Armstrong said, however, that if that were to be the case, Clinton County could, over time, buy out Wayne County’s part in the facility.

Eventually, magistrate Buster made the motion to proceed with giving Wayne County a 60 day notice of the contract termination. The motion passed by unanimous vote.

The court also dealt with other general issues at the meeting, and a separate article appears beginning on page 1.