Animal accord for Bloomington, Monroe County, Ellettsville, gets routine OK from city council

Asher, the nattily dressed bully breed mix featured to the right of the bar chart, is a “courtesy listing” on the city of Bloomington’s animal shelter website. As of Dec. 26, 2022, the image links directly to his listing.

Even if Bloomington and Monroe county government officials have recently been fighting like cats and dogs about topics like the convention center expansion, they have for several years settled into a pattern of uncontroversial cooperation for the sheltering of homeless animals.

At its last meeting of the year, on Dec. 21, Bloomington’s city council approved its side of an interlocal agreement with Monroe County government, and the town of Ellettsville, to help pay for operations at the city’s animal shelter.

The amount specified in the agreement that gets approved by the three governmental entities in any given year is based on the stats from the previous year—for the average cost per animal and the number of animals originating from each jurisdiction.

Last Wednesday, Bloomington’s director of animal care and control, Virgil Sauder, told the city council the average cost per animal for 2021 was $283.

For the 92 animals the shelter took in from Ellettsville in 2021, that works out to $26,036. For the 1,249 animals the shelter took in from non-Bloomington and non-Ellettsville locations in Monroe County, that works out to $353,467. Continue reading “Animal accord for Bloomington, Monroe County, Ellettsville, gets routine OK from city council” →

No more pet store sale of dogs or cats in Bloomington, starting Jan. 1, 2023

On an 8–0 vote on Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council passed an ordinance that bans the sale of cats and dogs by retail pet stores.

That means Bloomington joins some other Indiana localities that have passed ordinances prohibiting the sale of cats and dogs by pet stores, which include: St. Joseph County, Columbus, Dyer, Highland, and Crown Point. The last four on that list passed the laws in 2021.

The two Bloomington stores that would be impacted by the new law are Delilah’s Pet Shop on West Third Street and Anthony’s Pets in College Mall.

The idea behind the new local law is to reduce the consumer demand for animals that is currently met by puppy and kitten mills—operations that put volume ahead of animal welfare.

This kind of ordinance is supported by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which says most of the dogs and cats sold in pet shops are sourced from puppy and kitten mills. Continue reading “No more pet store sale of dogs or cats in Bloomington, starting Jan. 1, 2023” →

Possible new Bloomington law banning pet shop sale of cats, dogs would add to national momentum

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Bloomington’s animal control commission voted unanimously on Monday to support a proposed new ordinance banning the sale of cats and dogs.

If the new ordinance is enacted by the city council, then starting in about a year, on Jan. 1, 2023, pet shops inside the city limits of Bloomington would not be able to sell dogs or cats.

Bloomington’s city council is supposed to hear the ordinance for a first reading at its meeting next week, on Nov. 17. The ordinance is being put forward by councilmembers Susan Sandberg, Dave Rollo, and Isabel Piedmont-Smith.

The two Bloomington stores that would be impacted by the new law are Delilah’s Pet Shop on West Third Street and Anthony’s Pets in College Mall.

The idea of the ordinance was not controversial for animal control commissioners—they’d already been looking for movement in that direction. As animal commission president Valerie Peña put it: “Absolutely thrilled to see this. It has been a long time coming and it’s great news.”

The idea behind the new local law is to reduce the consumer demand for animals that is currently met by puppy and kitten mills—operations that put volume ahead of animal welfare. Continue reading “Possible new Bloomington law banning pet shop sale of cats, dogs would add to national momentum” →

Photos: Plenty of free barking in Bloomington

One of the most frequent complaints about Bloomington that I hear from folks is that there’s not enough barking.

There’s just no place to bark, they say. And when you do find a place to bark, there’s a barking meter with jammed coin slots, so it accepts only credit cards or pay-by-app.

I have checked out this complaint, using all of my watchdog journalistic powers. After an initial investigation, I don’t think the complaints about a lack of barking in Bloomington have much merit.

There is plenty of free barking space up on the north side of town.

Here’s photographic evidence from the city’s Ferguson Dog Park on Sunday.

Continue reading “Photos: Plenty of free barking in Bloomington” →

Jordy the courthouse dog hits half-decade mark, confirms he is a good boy

Pup Parade for Jordy’s fifth birthday party. He’s the golden retriever flanked by David Arthur and Olivia Bounds who are holding his leash. (Dave Askins/Beacon)

Jordy inside the Switchyard Brewery, with Olivia Bounds looking on.

Jordy’s handler Tia Arthur (left) with an earlier ICAN trainer, Moe Kiley. (Dave Askins/Beacon)

Switchyard Brewing on Walnut Street, a couple blocks north of the square in downtown Bloomington, markets itself as “dog friendly.”

On Sunday a couple of people with their dogs were soaking up a cool, sunny fall afternoon at the brewery’s outdoor tables—and they’d have been there anyway, even if a Jordy, a local canine celebrity, was not celebrating his fifth birthday inside.

Jordy’s birthday celebration coincided with a regular Sunday Switchyard event—a gathering of the BYOD (Bring Your Own Dog) Walking Club.

The now five-year-old golden retriever works with the nonprofit Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to help comfort kids when they have to participate in stressful legal proceedings. Continue reading “Jordy the courthouse dog hits half-decade mark, confirms he is a good boy” →

Monroe county’s commissioners: GO, dog. GO bonds!

The largest dollar-amount item on the regular meeting agenda for Monroe County commissioners on Wednesday morning was approval of a $5.17 million general obligation (GO) bond, to pay for a raft of projects. The two commissioners present on the three-member board—Julie Thomas and Penny Githens—approved the bond issuance.

Also at the meeting, a few ordinances regulating behavior on the courthouse grounds were revised, to add some additional punishments for violating the existing county laws on hours of operation, littering and camping. The new penalty allows for an escalating series of bans from the property, in 30-day increments.

The ordinance revisions were made, because of persisting “incidents of alcohol consumption during the day, fighting, and the deposit of trash, garbage, human waste, and used syringes on the Courthouse grounds,” according to the resolution approved by commissioners.

A separate ordinance revision, also related to the courthouse grounds now allows dogs on the grounds, if they’re on a leash and under control.

Downward dogs will also be allowed as a result of the approval commissioners gave to a contract to with a yoga teacher to give classes to county employees at no cost to them.
Continue reading “Monroe county’s commissioners: GO, dog. GO bonds!” →