TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo City Council members are questioning whether $75,000 to extend the city's contract with Lucas County Canine Care and Control is money well spent.
This contract would renew LC4's business with the city of Toledo, providing "animal care and control services ... during normal business hours as well as on an on-call basis after normal business hours," according to the legislation.
Council members questioned the renewal at Wednesday's agenda review meeting, saying residents have complained about the LC4's response times.
Last month, an east Toledo resident said stray cats she was caring for were attacked and killed by aggressive, unrestrained dogs. But when she called LC4 for help, she said she was told it would take a call from the police for them to respond.
She ended up dealing with the dogs for three hours, terrifying her and her granddaughter in the process.
Council member Theresa Gadus, who represents east Toledo, says she's been receiving complaints for the better part of a year and a half.
Council member Adam Martinez says he's been having back-and-forth conversations between TPD and LC4 for the last six months trying to get a resolution and has been told the two groups don't know which calls they're supposed to answer.
Martinez says it has reached the point where he has superseded both entities and has brought on the planning commission to start studying and potentially responding to dog calls instead.
"If we're going to spend $75,000, I'd rather give it to the planning commission who can enforce what's on the books," he said. "My frustration is, it's the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing and inter-municipalities having disagreements that no one follows through with."
Council has requested a full list of response calls from LC4 to see how the $75,000 in funding is being spent.
A county spokesperson told WTOL 11 they have not received any complaints from council or city administration, and to their knowledge, the contract with the Toledo Police Department has worked very well.