Shelter snafu

October 27, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - When he burned out on working in behavioral health, Dennis Lords went to the dogs - and the cats.

Lords became chief of Houston's Office of Animal Safety and Protection about a year and a half ago. Besides his degree in human services, Lords brought experience from the 1970s in animal control in Idaho, worked as a state trooper and as an Alaska dairy farmer. That experience provides him with the background necessary to do a good job, and Lords said he knows he's doing a good job.

&#8220We've had no complaints, which leads me to believe we're doing a good job,” he said. &#8220Otherwise, Mayor Keller would be right on the phone.”

The city of Wasilla contracts its animal control duties with Houston and provides $60,000 of Houston's $73,000 animal-care budget, according to Dale Adams, Houston's mayor.

When Houston started its own program for animal care and regulation about five years ago, it had a $12,000 budget and a staff of one who worked on an on-call basis.

&#8220I think we're doing a good job,” Adams said. &#8220Everybody is happy with us.”

Lords said his experience is especially helpful in dealing with the humans behind animal complaints.

&#8220We're not the most favorite people to see pulling into your driveway,” he said. &#8220Our job is to settle them down and give them directions on how to correct the problem.”

Lords was the first full-time employee for animal control in Houston, he said. Before he came on, there were two part-time employees. But as chief, he said he felt he needed to be available to the public more than three days a week.

&#8220At that point, I went full time,” he said. &#8220I said I would, whether I got paid for it or not.”

In addition to Lords, for $73,000, the Houston animal-care office has one pickup truck with a camper shell, five dog pens under construction, cages for cats, and Rick Molburg, a part-time animal-care officer who works 20 to 30 hours a week. Like Lords, Molburg has life experience with animals, but no recent formal training.

&#8220Rick is excellent with animals,” Lords said. &#8220He's just super.”

But national certification is standard for animal-care officers these days, according to Dave Allison, chief of the Mat-Su Borough's animal care.

&#8220Training is important,” Allison said. &#8220It prevents liability. If you hire someone to do a job, you're remiss in your duties if you don't aid them with training and support.”

Animal-care officers, like police, emergency service workers and firefighters, need to base decisions on scientific knowledge, and not a guess, he said.

All of the borough's animal-care officers have some level of national certification, he said. While online courses are available, and his staff uses those courses, too, it takes two full weeks spent training in the Lower 48, plus documented hours of hands-on training to attain national certification.

That training is something Lords said he would hope for if the budget allowed. But meantime, he and Molburg do the best they can, and back each other up when a need arises, such as the one two weeks ago at Burchell High School when Molburg was on duty and an American bulldog was loose on school grounds and acting aggressively toward students

&#8220He knows If we get a call like that he calls me,” Lords said. &#8220Whether I'm working or in church doesn't matter.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.