Animal shelter reviewing policies

MEDFORD, Ore. -- More than a month after a Medford family’s cat was euthanized, they are asking for changes at the Jackson County Animal Care and Control Center.

On Thursday David and Priscilla Farrell delivered the county commissioners a proposal.

Among their suggestions was to scan every cat brought in for a microchip, tranquilize aggressive cats to scan them rather than putting them down immediately and to post pictures of strays or feral animals online.

“This Max did have a chip,” Commissioner Don Skundrick said. “And it was still destroyed – euthanized. And it’s a regrettable mistake.”

Skundrick says the county is reviewing its policies. However just like other county issues, he says if any changes are made it will take time.

The commissioners met with the shelter and other county leaders on Thursday.

Skundrick says it comes down to a microchip issue. He says there are five kinds of chips and scanners. The county has two.

Those two scanners find the majority of chips, he says, but not all of them.

However, Skundrick says the key to making sure this doesn't happen again is looking beyond the chip.

He says the county is looking into mandatory licensing for cats which means cat owners would have to put tags on their pet's collar.

County leaders say they feel awful about what happened to Max.

While they work on making permanent changes, shelter director Collen Mauck says they will be holding the cats they get in for at least 24 hours before they're put down.

Mauck says on Monday the shelter will meet with a number of local nonprofits including the Southern Oregon Humane Society to discuss the county’s cat problems.