Commissioners Address Neighbor Concerns About Dog Center

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Plans for a new Muskingum Co. Dog Warden & Adoption Center along Newark Road stir debate between some neighbors and the County Commissioners.

Commissioner Mollie Crooks says the new facility will be designed to be a more inviting place.

“Originally the dog pound was a place where the dogs were picked up, they were kept for three days as required by law and possibly euthanized. Over the last many years, we’ve had a huge change in philosophy to one of adoption & rescuing and just making sure that the dogs that have been picked up as strays or maybe had to be surrendered by owners that could no longer care for them did get into those forever loving homes,” Crooks said Thursday

Neighbors met with the commissioners for over an hour at the County Courthouse.

“There have been some concerns from neighbors in the community that, we had a meeting today to address their concerns. I think some of that may be because of so many revisions to the project; they weren’t up to date on the project that we’re looking at right now. We do care about following the rules as far as zoning requirements and being good partners to those neighbors,” Crooks said.

Right now, she says plans call for forty-eight kennels in the new Dog Warden & Adoption Center, to be built on county-owned land. Their budget, Crooks says, is for $500,000 for a new facility.