A service perhaps taken for granted is animal control. In the old days, this was the Dog
Catcher. Some cities go without this
service and expect police or interested citizens to deal with stray
animals. Most cities provide these
services with a contractor that specializes in this activity.
The City of Breezy Point uses Animal Control Enforcement
Services. This company is located in
Brainerd. They have worked with the city
a good number of years and are familiar with the area. The city is charged a monthly fee for their
service. If responding to a call the
city is also charged mileage. They do
not patrol the city for strays but rather respond to calls for service. The calls made in the past couple of years
are:
Total Animal Calls Responded to
2011 66 32
2012 41 25
2013* 27 9 *to date
Advantages
in working with them are:
- Their services are very helpful in Dog Bite situations and Dangerous Dog notifications.
- They have the equipment and training to complete the tasks.
- There are OSHA issues that are of concern with Law Enforcement in capturing and transportation of animals. (The police department will occasionally handle friendly dogs)
- If Law Enforcement is to be involved it ties up an officer who would have to drive to the animal shelter in Baxter and clean the squad car.
The city council recently reviewed and
approved their contract for service for the upcoming year. The monthly fee is determined on a per capita
basis. For the upcoming year the cost of
service is $1.10 per capita based on a population of 2388. This was an increase of $0.10 per capita
making the annual cost increase $280.80.
The annual cost for these services amounts to $2,626.80.
