Warden back on the job for a busy summer

After three years of Kalispell having no animal warden, Mike Hall is back on the job, trying to keep the peace among animals, their owners and the public at large. He’s starting to catch his breath after a busy summer.

“Parts of town are just full of dogs,” Hall said. “When they all stay home, it’s all pretty good.”

Of course, cats, chickens and a number of other animals domestic and wild can cause trouble around town. And it’s just as important to be good with animals as it is to be good with people. Some heated disputes among Kalispell people can arise from their animal problems.

“My job is to get some harmony back into the community,” Hall said. “Without that, it does pit neighbor against neighbor and they start fighting.”

The warden and a patrol officer position were cut in October 2008 because of budget shortfalls.

“Our animal warden handles about 1,200 calls a year, so that was a significant loss for us,” Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset said.

With no warden on duty, other officers responded to animal calls as time and priorities allowed. Flathead County’s animal wardens also helped out.

“We were good at being reactive, but we did not have time to do the proactive stuff. It was tough,” Nasset said.

The warden position was cut even as Kalispell was seeing growing numbers of aggressive dogs, mostly pit bulls, and over the next several years there were several instances of people being mauled by dogs.

In 2011, Nasset appealed for $57,000 to bring Kalispell’s animal warden back.

“We were hearing an outcry from some citizens, and fortunately the city manager and the council agreed,” Nasset said.

“We not only got the animal warden back, we got our former animal warden back ... Fortunately, Mike being so good at what he does, he jumped back in the job and got control of it again. Everyone from the patrol officers up to myself as chief are appreciative to have him doing that.”

Hall has years of animal warden experience in Kalispell. He’s been back on the job since last November and said he’s said busy ever since.

Kalispell’s newer dangerous dog ordinance — adopted by the City Council in 2010 — has been taking up a fair amount of Hall’s time.

In the past, owners of dangerous dogs were given a citation with a court date if they wanted to contest what often amounted to their dog’s death.

Now, Hall must investigate and prepare a case and petition for the city attorney and be ready to argue in favor of a dangerous dog declaration before the municipal court judge.

Hall has handled 15 dangerous dog cases this year, most involving pit bulls.

“It’s like Kalispell has been inundated with pit bulls,” Hall said. “I know it’s a fad right now, but it causes a lot of problems. Some of them are just really nice dogs and family dogs, but some aren’t, especially with other dogs.”

Under Kalispell’s new ordinance, the city can require owners of dangerous dogs to post warning signs, erect proper enclosures, muzzle the dog whenever it is off the property, pay to register the dog with the city each year and post a bond of at least $50,000 to cover any injuries the dog may cause.

Mixed in with dangerous dog petitions have been a rash of cases of dogs attacking other dogs and a couple cases of dogs killing people’s chickens.

As usual, Hall and other officers this summer were called out to handle scores of complaints about dogs left in parked cars, especially at area box stores.

“We didn’t have anywhere we felt we had to take [the dog] out of the vehicle,” Hall said, adding that he and other officers usually try to stick around and counsel people about what it’s like to sit in a hot car with a fur coat when it’s 80 or 90 degrees out.

Sometimes people who report those dogs in parked cars try to confront the dog owners themselves. The same goes for some people with complaints about barking or howling dogs in their neighborhoods. Those situations can escalate into intense arguments, even fights.

“It’s a passionate, emotional issue with people on both sides,” Hall said of Kalispell’s animal-related complaints. “It’s a challenging way to deal with the public, but there’s a lot of rewards, too. Otherwise I wouldn’t do it.”

With summer over, the calls are slowing. “Things quiet down in the winter, and that gives you time to take a breath. Summer is just nonstop calls,” Hall said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.