SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A potential shakeup could be in store for Sumner County and the way it handles animal control.
County officials are discussing the possibility of the sheriff’s office relinquishing animal control duties to help alleviate the workload for their department.
Animal control in Sumner County has long been a topic of controversy. In 2023, a special citizen committee was created to evaluate possible improvements to Sumner County’s animal control. The county commission shut it down late last year, but there’s now serious momentum behind a shift in operation.
“What we got here is a growing county. It’s very much behind the curve in terms of modern-sheltering protocol,” said Cathy Arlen, a concerned resident who volunteers at several Sumner County shelters.
“There’s two ways to do this: you can either do it as a free-standing department, where the Sumner County Commissioners would hire and appoint a director to run Animal Control services,” Arlen explained. “Or, you can do it as a private contract through an entity, like Safe Place for Animals [in Gallatin].
Arlen said transferring animal control responsibilities away from the sheriff’s office would not be an easy task, adding funding would also be a critical factor.
She told News 2 that she’s spoken with Sumner County Sheriff Eric Craddock, whose office appears open to letting go of their animal control duties.
Meanwhile, Sumner County Chief Deputy Tommy Grier said that, ultimately, whether they continue to run animal control is the county commission’s decision.
Grier noted that animal control was never supposed to be their responsibility. He said without more department funding, their office physically cannot keep doing what they’re doing.
“This is a continuous improvement situation, there’s never really a place where you stop,” said Arlen. “And I think that’s where having the sheriff’s department in control of animal control can hinder that type of progress.”
From Arlen’s perspective, the county desperately needs more resources; things like pet pantries or expanded spay/neuter services.
“We just want everything to progress and be better. And we feel like, what we’ve had is the status quo, and the status quo hasn’t always been good. It’s getting more and more difficult for people to care for their animals, and a good functioning organization would allow that to happen,” Arlen detailed.
This discussion is still in the early stages.
Sumner County’s 7-person Health and Emergency Services Committee (HEMS) will discuss reestablishing an Ad Hoc committee for animal control, and what the future of animal services may look like for the county, on Monday evening.
News 2 reached out to multiple commissioners on the HEMS committee. They declined to speak ahead of the meeting.
