The new White County Animal Control Officer was in the news big time over the last 5 months. Not much seems to be known about the new officer, Charlie Mick however. WROY/WRUL News set out to change that last week.
We met with Mick while taking photos for our Pet of the Week effort sponsored by Dave Matheny, State Farm and started with his background.
“I originated at Brownsville. I was born at Brownsville and went to school here in Carmi. I am a 1958 graduate from high school. I joined the Navy in 1959. I spent 25 years in the Navy. I retried and came back here. I was a truck driver. I retired from truck driving. This job became available and I applied for it,” stated Mick.
The subject of euthanizing animals has been a hot button for many folks, especially on social media with many suggesting County Board members had instructed Mick to carry out a “7 days or dead” policy. Mick tells us it’s not that simple, that he will not be operating on a strict timeline for most animals and it’s apparent he’s sympathetic to their plight.
“My job is to protect all the dogs in the county. If somebody has a dog and they are not taking care of it, I will get involved. I want all of the dogs in the county to be healthy and well taken care of. I will not euthanize a dog unless it is a must to. But if a dog bites somebody, especially a kid, it’s going to be euthanized.”
Mick says the county board did NOT instruct him on a timeline, when or under what circumstances in which dogs brought to the shelter should or would be killed and that the decision was left “totally up to [him]”. A bit troubling is apparently nobody on the board told Mick about the fund that had been set up for the air conditioning at the shelter. He told us he had no knowledge of any funds available to offset the cost of running the a/c at the shelter. Luckily over the last week or so, the temperatures have provided a bit of a respite for everyone, but with the forecast calling for high 80’s and low ‘90’s this week, it could become an issue. Mick says he’s not saying under no circumstances would he turn the air conditioning on and put the animals inside, but again, it’s not that simple.
“If the weather gets especially hot, I will put them in and put them on the air conditioning. The county should not be paying for air conditioning for dogs, because dogs will acclimate to a temperature,” said Mick.
Mick is probably as qualified as anyone else to serve in the role. It is of note however that for as concerned as the county board was and professed to be about who and how the county animal shelter was being run, they’ve provided Mick with little to no direction. There seems to be no policies or procedures and Mick has been given very little direction. Luckily, he describes himself as an animal lover.
“I’ve handled dogs my whole life. I am a coon hunter and a beagle hunter. I’ve got hounds of my own. I show dogs and I am a dog lover.”
Mick says he’s open to suggestions when it comes to taking the best care of the animals as possible and he’s not about being headstrong. You can find the latest Pet of the Week always on the WRUL 97.3 facebook page. You can reach Charlie Mick to adopt or learn more anytime at 618 – 599 – 3633.
