A lot has been made this week of the layoff's of two of Hartford's Animal Control Officers. Here is a potential solution.
Apparently, the Hartford Police mounted Unit is also being disbanded as of July 1, 2016.The Mounted unit is currently housed in a modern stable building on Vine Street in Hartford. That building will no longer be used horse related use after July 1st.
Currently, the Hartford Police Department rents or leases space for the "dog pound" in Bloomfield. The cost for that space is apparently over $200,000 per year. The dogs in doggie jail are fed and cared for by the Hartford Animal Control Officer's, so that is a fixed cost whether the dogs are housed in Bloomfield or Hartford.
The Hartford Mounted Unit Horse stables should be converted into kennels so Hartford can house their own dogs instead of transporting them to Bloomfield. It would save a huge amount of man hours being in Hartford. Instead of Hartford officers having to transport the felonious K-9's out of town for their incarceration, it would just be a quick trip to Vine Street. The same for their releases as well and also for their care and feeding. All local.
It would, most importantly, free up a couple hundred thousand dollars for the Bloomfield shelter, that could then be transferred into the payroll account to pay for the two ACO's that were laid off
We can not afford to give away another City building when it means cost savings as well as jobs. The Police stable is a modern facility that could easily be retrofitted to a kennel use. The heat and utilities are already there and the cost should remain the same or even a little less with the reduced heating costs for dogs as opposed to horses.
It might just be an idea that seems too simple and makes too much sense, but it is definitely worth looking at as we try to find creative ways to deal with our dire budget crisis.
Any other suggestions?
-



