FORKS — The town has “gone to the dogs,” some say, and now Forks city and Clallam County officials are looking to find a way to have more animal control in the area.
Clallam County held a meeting Monday evening in Forks where they talked with city officials who raised concerns about what little has been done to address animal control in the area.
“There’s growing concern and I know it’s real because I take the phone calls,” said Commissioner Bill Peach. “People are getting really concerned and they are getting upset.
“The feeling is the service to the community isn’t adequate.”
Animal control in the Forks area is scant. Peach said the county animal control officer makes it to the West End about once every other week.
The city doesn’t have an animal control officer. A small group of volunteers with Friends of Forks Animals (FOFA) has done much of the heavy lifting, according to reports.
“We get no animal control at all from the east end,” said Pam Winney of Friends of Forks Animals. “The animal control vehicle comes out here only on emergency calls.”
The organization works closely with the Forks Police Department on animal calls she said.
City Council members credited FOFA for providing the services the city does have.
She and a handful of volunteers take stray animals to the city’s shelter — which is closed — where they can stay for up to a week. In that time, they try to connect owners with their missing pets, but they are successful only about 50 percent of the time, she said.
After the week is up, volunteers will connect the stray dogs with a number of other animal rescues around the Olympic Peninsula hoping they will find new homes.
FOFA also has a low-income program for spaying and neutering animals. Neutering cats and dogs is $5 and $15, respectively. To have a cat or dog spayed is $10 and $20.
“This place out here literally has gone to the dogs and there’s no doubt about it,” Winney said.
Among the problems she sees is the number of dogs running loose.
“That’s the problem I would like to see enforcement of so that they know they can’t let their animals run free,” she said. She alleged that: “You’ve got the person who is keeping their dog in their yard and the person’s dog who is roaming free comes in and kills it right in front of them.”
City and county officials said Monday they would like to find a solution and that solution might involved working together.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Tuesday that there is clearly a need for animal control in the city and the unincorporated area surrounding Forks.
He suggests the county and city work together by both funding half of a position. He said the Board of County Commissioners would need to find the funding for additional animal control efforts because there isn’t room in his budget.
“I don’t really see the commissioners providing animal control for the city of Forks unless they can put some skin in the game,” Benedict said. “Sequim would expect the same and Port Angeles would expect the same. It’s a slippery slope.”
During the meeting Monday, Audrey Grafstrom told county officials the city operates the shelter on a “shoestring” budget. The city uses jail trustees to help care for the animals.
She said she could see the city offering in-kind support.
Peach said the final solution might not involve having an animal control officer working five days a week, but that anything “would be an improvement.”
Said Mayor Tim Fletcher: “The city resolves to attempt to work with the county on this issue.”
Commissioner Mark Ozias said that whatever the solution is, it should involve those who already are doing much of the work.
“There’s got to be an opportunity to leverage some public resource with the individual private effort,” he said.
Ozias said that as the county prepares its budget over the next several weeks, the county can look at what funding is available.
For more information about FOFA, call 360-374-3332.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
