In the State of Michigan, almost all "Animal Control" has been turned over to the counties. The Michigan Department of Agriculture makes sure that everyone has enough license tags and paperwork, conducts some shelter inspections each year with an underfunded and understaffed group of employees, including some veterinarians.
Animal Control was originally a function of townships. Today, most Animal Control is a responsibility of a county's Board of Commissioners.
Many Commissioners have chosen to turn the day-to-day operation of Animal Control over to the Sheriff's Department, although by State Law certain key pieces must remain firmly in the hands of the Board of Commissioners: one or more Ordinances, and the appointment of one or more Animal Control Officers.
Local officials can put most anything they want into an Animal Control Ordinance, as long as it does not conflict with any provision of Michigan State Law or a regulation of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
There being few statewide standards of appropriate county governance, county ordinances and operations vary widely.
If you want to help solve the problems of homeless and persecuted animals, you have to be familiar with the legal framework that props up the "Amimal Control" business. We will do our best to provide you with a simplified introduction to the appropriate laws and ordinances, although we're the first to admit that this is no substitute for reading the actual source material in total and in the original language.
Eaton County forbids stray cats and killed more than 600 cats and kittens in the 2008 official reporting year. Jackson County's Ordinance doesn't even mention cats, and they still killed nearly 50 in 2008.
Shiawasee County operates its Animal Control using little more than the proceeds of dog licenses, while Eaton County spent more than a quarter of a million dollars beyond that.
Some of the big Humane Societies kill more animals than the public Animal Control facilities. In 2008 the Michigan Humane Society in Oakland County killed almost 12,000 cats ( 72% of those received), while the Capital Area Humane Society in Clinton County killed over 1400 cats( 47% of those received).
Animal Control in Michigan's counties is driven by death, which is driven by economics. From a strictly budgetary point of view, death is the least expensive and therefore the best approach to dealing with homeless animals. It definitely costs less to kill an animal than to care for it.
The problem is that every year we are killing the same number of animals, or even more than the previous year. "Catch-and-Kill" is not working; it is not reducing the number of homeless "stray" animals. We cannot impound our way out of this problem. We cannot euthanize our way out of this problem. Our strategies are aimed at the wrong problem. By targeting the homeless and helpless "strays", we are missing the real targets, which can be easy to see if you are alert.
