Long-term Dog-Killing dog warden Tom Skeldon is out. By all accounts, it looks like Julie Lyle is in.
The committee that was handling the new dog warden search -- led by County Commissioner Ben Konop - voted unanimously to begin negotiations with Ms. Lyle.
Lyle, who beat out more than 40 candidates for the job, was most recently the Humane Society manager from Marquette, MI. According to at least one report, the Marquette County Humane Society was an open admission shelter that held an adoption rate of around 85%.
At the very least, some 'pit bull' type dogs are on their recent adoptions page.
If these numbers are even close to right, things may be looking VERY up for the animals in Lucas County, where under Skeldon's reign all 'pit bulls' were systematically killed and only 13% of the animals that came into the shelter were adopted.
Best of luck ot Ms. Lyle -- at least at initial glance it looks like a good choice for the citizens, and animals, in Lucas County.
More from the Toledo Blade. The contract is not final, but it sounds like they're at least in good negotiations.
It seems unlikely that any replacement would not be a massive improvement.
Hoping that "Well, she's better than Skeldon" is not where they've placed the bar.
Posted by: H Houlahan | March 25, 2010 at 01:00 AM
Agreed H. My initial glance at the Marquette Humane Society seemed very positive...so it looks like they are at least attempting to do better than just "better".
Posted by: Brent | March 25, 2010 at 08:49 AM
"She's got a very inspiring story," the commissioner [Konop] said. "The thing about Julie is she is someone who genuinely cares about the welfare of animals, and that is real positive change."
I love that! Konop is the real hero in this story, and he will never pass up an opportunity to stick it to that monster Skeldon
Posted by: EmilyS | March 25, 2010 at 09:04 AM