OHMIDOG! : No takers for Cecil animal control contract

A task force created to find a new contractor to handle animal control duties now performed*by the Cecil County SPCA has found no takers, Commissioner Robert Hodge says.
The county received no applications from other agencies interested in taking over the contract, according to a report in last week’s Baltimore Sun.
The Cecil Couny SPCA is the subject of investigations by the Maryland State Police and the state veterinary medical examiner’s board, both of which, the Sun reports, are still underway.*
The 12-member task force, which has met privately once a week since early March, has scheduled its first public hearing April 29.*The current $674,000 contract with the Cecil County SPCA expires June 30. The Cecil County SPCA is not affiliated with the Maryland SPCA in Baltimore.
Hodge said the county could rehire the shelter on a month-to-month basis and continue its search, or*take over animal control on its own.
Former workers at the shelter, an independent nonprofit organization, have accused staff members of botching routine surgeries, committing acts of violence against unruly animals, lying to the public and operating unreported businesses at county expense. More than two dozen people signed affidavits alleging abuse, said Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr.,*who has been gathering complaints about the facility.
The shelter’s board president, Nancy O. Schwerzler, has denied the allegations, and says Smigiel has been using his website to “stir up people’s emotions.”


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