DOWNTOWN — Cook County's Animal Control agency came under harsh criticism during budget hearings Thursday, with one commissioner saying its system for dealing with lost pets "borders on an embarrassment."
Commissioner John Fritchey (D-Chicago) cited a recent report from Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard calling the agency's computer system "archaic and inefficient," and mocked efforts to improve it.
Fritchey read from a new Department of Animal and Rabies Control website on lost pets, quoting that its first piece of advice was to "search the immediate vicinity calling out your pet's name."
"We can do somewhat better," Fritchey said. "It borders on an embarrassment."
Fritchey said he was pushing for "a better, more responsive department."
"We're very aware that the animal-control system is out of date," said Chief Administrative Officer Martha Martinez, who oversees the Department of Animal and Rabies Control. She added that the Bureau of Technology is working on an upgrade, but Fritchey maintained it was a relatively low priority in county affairs.
Fritchey has been calling for the county to lead the way on returning strays to their proper homes for months, and he echoed that Thursday, saying, "We have no coordinated plan with all the municipalities in Cook County."
Blanchard's report likewise recommended the county "take a leadership role" in reuniting strays with their owners.
Dr. Donna Alexander, head of animal control, said she was aware of the problems in Blanchard's report, including wardens claiming commuting time as "on the clock," the mishandling of animal drugs and a "lack of professionalism" in dealing with calls.
"Most of them were rectified at the time that they were raised," she said.
Alexander also cited a letter sent to commissioners this week in which she and President Toni Preckwinkle said they were "receptive" to improving the county's system on strays, but adding that "pet unification is not part of the department's core mission, and reunification responsibilities currently lie with the various local authorities in Cook County that comprise 'the patchwork of animal-control agencies and shelters'" mentioned in the report.
Preckwinkle and Alexander emphasized that the department's primary assignment is to control rabies and protect the public health where animals are concerned. Blanchard, too, acknowledged that while suggesting the county devote more resources to stray pets.
Alexander said the county had taken in just 262 strays last year, far fewer than surrounding areas like Kane County, because it only patrols unincorporated areas, leaving villages and cities like Chicago to their own Animal Control agencies.
Fritchey, however, maintained that is part of the problem, with no overarching agency to streamline the process of returning strays to their owners.
According to Alexander, the county only recently added a second shelter, Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg, to its existing shelter, the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, to reduce travel times in transporting captured strays.
Yet that too drew flak, with Fritchey charging, "The Animal Welfare League has the highest kill rate in the state" among animal shelters, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request put to the state Department of Agriculture, which keeps records on the subject.
Alexander attributed that to the "poor quality and health" of strays typically impounded there.
Blanchard's report stated that the department has an $8 million surplus, and Fritchey asked if Alexander would be open to using that and other funds to create the county's own shelter. Alexander agreed.
Fritchey called that "best answer of the day."
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