Wanted: Dog Control Officer

Wes Powell

Come Sunday, Hudson (and several towns in Columbia County) will be without a dog control officer because Wes Powell is retiring. According to state law, the City has thirty days to hire a new dog control officer.

The subject of the dog control officer was discussed briefly at the Police Committee meeting on Monday. An unnamed alderman had contacted Chief Ed Moore asking if the Hudson Police Department could take over the duties of the dog control officer. Moore said HPD could do so in the interim but not long term. Police commissioner Peter Volkmann outlined the requirements for a dog control officer--a rabies shot, a properly equipped vehicle for transporting dogs, and three to five days of training--and estimated that the upfront costs would be $1,500 to $2,000 without training.

Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) has always maintained that Powell was not active enough in Hudson to earn the $7,200 the City paid him each year and the job should go to someone who lives in Hudson. I was reminded of Garriga's complaints when I read this story in the Altamont Enterprise about an overzealous new dog control officer in a town west of here: "Berne's new dog-control officer was overly aggressive, says resident." The new dog control officer in Berne was favored because he is a resident of the town. The person he ousted, who had been the dog control officer in Berne for nearly thirteen years, lives in Rensselaerville.
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