The mayor of Essex feels that dogs in the town are ending up in the Lakeshore dog pound 'too frequently.'
Sherry Bondy says they really need to look at what's happening in Essex when it comes to dogs at large.
The dog pound is made up of four member communities-Essex, Lakeshore, LaSalle, and Tecumseh.
In 2024, 154 dogs were admitted to the Lakeshore Dog Pound, with 67 dogs from the Town of Essex alone, or 43 per cent of the total dogs admitted to the dog pound, according to a report going to the dog pound committee.
There were 48 (30%) from the Municipality of Lakeshore, 22 (16%) from the Town of LaSalle, and 17 (11%) from the Town of Tecumseh.
Bondy says the model of the Lakeshore Dog Pound is that they are billed capital costs and on "dog days" or the number of days a dog from a given municipality is in the pound.
"The more dog days we have in the pound, the more we get charged," she says. "So if your dog does go to the pound, please try to get it as soon as possible. We're only able to keep dogs there for three days, and then they are either placed with St. Clair College or the {Windsor-Essex County} Humane Society."
Essex had 278 dog days in 2024, Lakeshore had 190, LaSalle had 102, and Tecumseh had 74.
The final figure on what each municipality will pay is still being calculated.
Bondy says dog tag fees help pay for the pound.
"It is important for residents to not only have a microchip, because we know residents like to microchip their dogs, but also to have that municipal dog tag, and we can quickly identify the owner of that dog and return that dog as soon as possible," she says.
The Lakeshore Dog Pound is jointly funded by the municipalities of Lakeshore, LaSalle, Tecumseh, and Essex.
The goal of the Joint Dog Pound is to maintain animal control in Essex County through the promotion of responsible pet ownership, but each municipality is responsible for their own animal control.
The Dog Pound is located at 914 Puce Road in Lakeshore, accessible via the 401 Puce Road exit.
When a stray dog is brought to the pound by the animal control officer from one of the municipalities or is received from the public, every attempt is made to locate its owner.
Once a 72-hour period has lapsed, the dog may then be moved to St. Clair College Veterinary Program for assessment care and possible adoption or to the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society.