An avowed dog lover is now in charge of the Williams County Dog Pound and her goal is to make sure the animals find a home.
Pam Welch took over the pound Sept. 1 after assisting the former dog warden for 15 years. The Board of County Commissioners offered her the job Aug. 22.
Welch had been a postal carrier before she saw an ad for the dog pound opening and decided to apply.
“I have always been great with dogs,” Welch said. “I wanted to work with dogs.”
Little did she know working at the dog pound would become a second career. She has stayed for a lot of reasons.
“I stayed because of the animals, I love saving them,” Welch said. “I love working with animals. I love the benefits of the county employees and I do love what I do.”
The last thing Welch wants to see is an animal abused or neglected. It’s hard for her because she knows the animal cannot speak for itself.
“They could be injured or treated badly, it’s hard to see that,” Welch said.
What she does at the pound is go after stray dogs. That means coaxing them into her car, by offering them treats or singing to them. She does have a long pole with a noose to collar really vicious dogs if need be.
But even those dogs can be calmed down once she has them under control, she said.
She deals with dogs who bite or a neighbor complains about them. If a dog gets loose, but has a tag or other ID, she will return it, with the admonition to secure it and getting a tag.
She can issue citations, but that is not her main objective. She just wants dogs to have a good home and for owners to be responsible.
Strays she picks up are to stay in the pound three days after the day they are picked up. That deadline is not firm as Welch works hard to find the owner or put the dog in a new home.
That includes calling rescue, advertising, or trying to find people to take the dog, look for security chips some people put in their dogs.
“You have got to look around,” Welch said. “Very rarely do we euthanize dogs. We do it if they are too aggressive or too sick.”
Owners of a found dog have to pay an impound fee of $15, plus $10 a day for boarding the dog. If the dog has a tag, she will take them home.
The Humane Society handles abandoned dogs and abuse cases.
She has taken three dogs home from the pound and in each case, the dogs picked her, Welch said.
She worked with former Dog Warden Pam Stark for 15 years and enjoyed the friendship that formed between them. The main difference people will notice is that Stark was a pile person, Welch prefers to be organized.
Welch will be speaking with the commissioners about ways to make the operation more modern such as a web page and using social media. She would also like to accept debit and credit cards for payments.
When not at the office, Welch likes to do crafts, crochet and read mysteries, Dean Koontz books and Amish stories. She has a written a novel but has not submitted it yet to a publisher.
She has been married to husband Steve for 23 years and has two grown children.
The pound is at 9992 Co Rd 16, Bryan, OH 43506. For more information, call 419-636-4659.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com