With the change in guard at Lapeer County Animal Control, it seems fitting to reflect on how the department has improved its operations in the last decade.
In 2013, after volunteers and animal advocates raised concerns about the shelter, Lapeer County revamped many of their policies and procedures regarding euthanasia, adoption and working with rescue organizations. Additionally, the county commission allocated funds to make necessary upgrades to the shelter. Although independent investigations found no wrongdoing on the part of shelter staff, county officials said it became apparent that the modernization of both facilities and operations were needed.
Dave Eady became the agency’s director in 2018 after having sat on a committee as county commissioner to bring about those policy and facility changes for Animal Control.
In 2020, a millage request from voters was defeated but that didn’t stop employees from soldiering on and creating a ‘Friends’ group that finds them now volunteering their free time to raise funding for the important work they do, including the sometimes extensive medical treatment the animals require.
Today, the agency has a strong presence on social media and actively works to reunite lost animals with their owners and find new homes for those cats and dogs that need them.
The future of Lapeer County Animal Control certainly seems to be bright with Rachel Horton now at the helm. Horton hopes that the department can offer more services to the public going forward but that will require more funding, staff and space. We trust that she and county officials can build on the success already attained within the department and make it an even better county agency for its residents, both the two- and four-legged kind.
