PALMER -- Palmer police may soon be out of the dog-catching business, at least for the more difficult cases.
The City Council here is considering turning to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to perform more of its animal control duties.
City Manager Bill Allen said Monday that he had scheduled a meeting about it with Borough Manager John Duffy for Tuesday morning. Duffy confirmed that Monday afternoon.
"We have been providing Palmer with service, the shelter service," Duffy said. "Now we're just revisiting the scope of work, what it costs, can they afford it."
He said if the borough and city can agree on a contract, the borough would take over licensing and possibly registering pets within the city. Currently dogs and cats are registered with Palmer police, who have been responsible for taking care of minor pet problems.
"Our cops will still go out," Allen said, "unless it's a vicious monster."
He said the calls the officers get are mostly about noise nuisances, such as a barking dog in the night.
But that isn't always the case. Jon Owen, head of public safety for Palmer, remembering a difficult canine arrest.
"As I recall, it was about a year and a half ago, and we had, it seems like, a shepherd-Rottweiler mix whose owners were out of town. We had to borrow a kennel and it was quite a rodeo to get him in it. And keep your hands away. He didn't bite anybody, but it wasn't for lack of trying."
The main reason for having the borough do the work, Allen said, "is because of the training and special vehicle that has to have a cage in it."
Duffy said the borough currently has 11 employees working animal control, including the manager and a veterinarian.
The annual cost of running the program is about $640,000.
The city of Wasilla used to lean on the borough for its animal control program as well, but since 2004 has contracted with the city of Houston.
The manager of Houston Animal Safety and Protection, Dennis Lords, said Tuesday morning there are two others -- his deputy and a secretary -- on the staff. With an annual budget of $118,000, the program covers a lot of territory, given Houston's land mass is one of the bigger ones in the state. And Wasilla one of the more populous areas.
On Tuesday he had 12 cats and was expecting more kittens later.
He also had six dogs including a coon hound, a couple of puppies and a Dalmatian, but he called that a slow day. He said he averages about 12 dogs and has room for 16 in the shelter.
"After that we're pushing the limit," Lords said. "Especially after the Iditarod, when a lot of dogs get dumped."
Find TC Mitchell online at adn.com/contact/tcmitchell or call 352-6716.
By T.C. MITCHELL
tcmitchell@adn.com