January 2, 2025 • 9 mins
Marion Dog Warden Scott Mills Talks About Dog Tags and The Facility
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Magic ninety five nine. Hey, good morning. It's Paul James
and today I'm in studio with Scott Mills. Scott Mills
is the dog warden here in Marion and he and
I were talking a little bit off air. Technically, the
sheriff is the dog warden in Marion County. Scott, first
of all, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming in,
appreciate having me. Yeah, I gotta I ran into Kevin
(00:21):
David say, of course, Kevin is a new county commissioner here.
He'll be sworn in here as a county commissioner pretty soon.
And Kevin spent decades at the Sheriff's department and he's
a good friend of mine. And he said, hey, he goes,
I think people need to learn a little bit more
about how the dog pound, the dog warden, you know,
getting dog tags and stuff work. And I said, you
(00:43):
know what, let's do a segment on the show. And
Scott calls me the next day and here we are,
and so welcome to the show. First of all, Scott,
tell everybody how the dog pound in Marion County works,
because I don't think they understand the structure of the
dog pound.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So the Shriff's Office took over operations at the dog
pound in twenty twelve, but we are a separate entity.
We're self funded, but we we operate on you know,
straight dogs, dog bites, aggressive dogs, and dog registration. In
twenty nineteen, we actually took over the humane agent position
(01:22):
as well, so we do all animal cruelty, no matter
the species.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And Scott, you are not a deputy. You are, as
it says on your sleeve, a dog warden. How is
that different from what we run into with the deputies.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And what so myself and the assistant dog warner at
the dog pound, neither one of us went through a
pot of training like the academy like most deputies do
and the Shriff's Office do. What we do is as
a dog warden. It's mostly on the job training. And
then we did we did no pot of humane agent training. Sure,
(01:55):
and then are you know we do carry firearms and tasers.
We go through all the same training the deputies do
for that kind of stuff, but we we didn't go
through the actual peace officers training academy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And and I know recently there was a Facebook
campaign because you guys were overrun with animals and you
were running out of food and supplies and things like that,
and I think the typical person was like, Wow, why
doesn't the county step up and buy all that, because
they really can't talk a little bit about how the
funding of your organization and protecting the dogs and everything
(02:27):
that you do work.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So it's actually the higher revised code. It's the state
law that dog boarden dog pounds are self funded. They
get their money through dog tag sales, find fees, and donations,
so nothing it's called the Dog and Kennel Fund. No
other organizations allowed to touch that money, and therefore no
(02:48):
other organization can kind of put into that right. So
we we rely solely on dog tag sales and then
adoptions and you know, when we charge somebody we get
that fine money. And we rely on donations. But because
we're government, we can't do our own fundraising.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So how many animals can you house? Currently?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
There? So the dog Warden's Office is build in nineteen
ninety nine. It was originally built for ten to twenty dogs,
but because we took over the humane agent stuff and
the way the world has come now, back in ninety nine,
they would just euthanize when they got to full we're
classified it. It's called a no kill, but it's a
(03:32):
lot of people misinterpreate that no kill status. We got
recognized as because we have a ninety percent or higher
save rate.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So we still euthanize for aggression and sickness, but you know,
not for time or space. But right now we can
house up to comfortably about forty dogs. You know, we
have a garage and we use that as a quarantine
area to help, you know, keep disease down and stuff
like that. And we have large, heavy duty kennels that
we put the dogs in. So our main goal is
(04:03):
not to have that many dogs, right. We don't want
to stuff dogs and kennels, but you know, we also
don't want dogs running the street. And like I said,
there's only two of us, so it's kind of hard
to keep up with it all.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That's a lot. Yes, that's a lot, and you have
cantle texts and things like that, but obviously not a lot,
and it has to work through how your budget works.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah. So we have a full time kindle tech and
she's the office person as well, and then we have
two part time kindle techs that just come in from
eight to noon. They clean and then they go home. Right,
So somebody's there taking care of the animals every day,
and then myself and the other dog warn we worked
till about six o'clock at night, but we're on call
for emergencies after six pm. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And if somebody wanted to give a gift here at
the holidays for what you guys do, they can bring
out a cat litter, they can bring out bags of
dog food, they can do the things that you need,
talk a little bit about some of the things that
you need to operate obviously, anything that would keep the
dog happy and content and healthy. Right.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Right, So we we actually don't house the cats. To
see you each side, we're right next door. Yeah, we're
right side by side. We work really well with each other.
But we're out on Richland Road twenty two to fifty
two Richland Road. And we could always use dog food.
I mean it's constant dog food, dog treats, soft treats.
We send toys home with people that are not dogs,
(05:23):
I mean anything that will blankets. We use blankets because
of the garage dogs and stuff. We don't want them
sitting on a cold, you know, kennel. Right, So we're
we're big on that laundry detergent, so we clean those blankets.
But basically anything that can help thrive.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So how do we determine what dog would then go
up for adoption because you might have a situation where
you end up getting a dog in How does that
process work? You try to reach out to the owner,
you see if they have a tag, and we'll talk
about those a little more here in a minute. But
how does that work?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So the like I said, the ORC higher vice Code
seats that if if a dog is found running at
large without a tag, it's a three day straight hold.
We post it on our Facebook page. Try and you know,
make sure we push it out. Hey, we found this
dog in this area. Here's a picture of it. Try
and find its owner. If nobody comes within three days,
then then we'll adopt it out. We'll post for adoption
(06:14):
or rescue. I mean there's a rescue organizations that pool
from us too. If it has a dog tag, we
reach out to the owner, We go to their house,
we call them whatever we got to deal, and they
have fourteen days. After the fourteenth day, if they don't come,
then we adopt it out.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay, so it kind of works the same way, you
just get that that extra two weeks kind of a
thing from just a few days and right now is
the time to buy your dog tags and you need
to buy those annually. Correct talk about the dog tags
and how it works.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So dog tags again, that's how we that's how we
fund and it helps your Your dog's supposed to wear it,
so if it gets lost, has its dog tag on.
Anybody can get on the Otter's office website, look that
number up and tell where the dog lives, where the addresses,
and take it home and it helps us you know,
not bring dogs in. That's is on from December first
(07:02):
to January thirty first every year, and it's all over
the state of Ohio, but you register within the county
you reside in, and then after January thirty first, if
you don't buy them, you can be penalized for not
buying them on time.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Okay, And you can get them by going to the
Auditor's office using their online you can mail in. Talk
about all the different ways you can get those tags.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
So the dog Warden's Office we sell so you can
buy them annually. We also sell a three year or
permanent tag, which is a ten year tags. You can
buy that at the dog Warden's office. And you can
also get your kennel tags there. That's if you're breeding
and have more than five dogs and you're breeding all
of them. But at the Auditor's office you can also
purchase purchase the one to three permanent and service dog tags.
(07:45):
They don't sell the camel tags.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
We do that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So either one of those places. And then the Auditor's
office is the one that keeps track of all the
tags itself in their system, so you can mail them
into them, you can buy them on their website. Uh,
and then go into both offices.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Right, and somebody says, well, my dog's microchip, I don't
need to buy a tag that is not true.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Correct. So, and a lot of people misinterpret your rabies
tag in a vet's office for the dog tag as well.
Get that. So a dog tag is a is a
four digit number and it says Marion County on it
has the four digit number on it. And it's a
state law. That's not something that we force, but we
enforce it now because it's a higher vice code. So
(08:28):
if you don't get them, you can get charged with
fairy to register and and and like I said, we
really like try to educate. We don't want to have
to give you a ticket on top of shying your tag.
We don't want to be jerks about it, so we
want to make sure you get them before the penalties
and the and the citations. Love that.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It's got great stuff, man. I I appreciate you coming in.
I've learned a ton today, uh and uh and I
really appreciate it. Hopefully folks did too. We're gonna put
this out as a podcast, so if you're hearing it
on the radio, it's also going to be on the
Marrine Now podcast channel and my podcas cast channel as
well for the Paul James Show. Because I think it's
that important and feel free to share that and get
it off to some other people so that so they
(09:09):
can get this information. Scott, how do people reach out
to you? I mean, obviously they can come out to
the dog Pound, but if they just want to learn
and they want to be more in tune to what's happening,
I would think hooking up with your Facebook page.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right. Yeah, so our Facebook page is Marion County, Ohio
dog Pound because there's a lot of Marion Counties in
different strates, right, But We also have a friend of
page on Facebook as well that's volunteer based. A bunch
of our volunteers run that page. They post our needs.
If we have a dog that needs medical care, they
post you know what it costs and all that. So
(09:42):
they do a lot of events as well.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Wonderful Scott, great information man. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate
the time and the conversation. Like I said, I've learned
a lot. Hopefully all of our listeners have as well,
and your best way to reach out is check out
their Facebook page and learn more about what goes on
Magic ninety five nine. Hey, good morning. It's Paul James
and today I'm in studio with Scott Mills. Scott Mills
is the dog warden here in Marion and he and
I were talking a little bit off air. Technically, the
sheriff is the dog warden in Marion County. Scott, first
of all, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming in,
appreciate having me. Yeah, I gotta I ran into Kevin
(00:21):
David say, of course, Kevin is a new county commissioner here.
He'll be sworn in here as a county commissioner pretty soon.
And Kevin spent decades at the Sheriff's department and he's
a good friend of mine. And he said, hey, he goes,
I think people need to learn a little bit more
about how the dog pound, the dog warden, you know,
getting dog tags and stuff work. And I said, you
(00:43):
know what, let's do a segment on the show. And
Scott calls me the next day and here we are,
and so welcome to the show. First of all, Scott,
tell everybody how the dog pound in Marion County works,
because I don't think they understand the structure of the
dog pound.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So the Shriff's Office took over operations at the dog
pound in twenty twelve, but we are a separate entity.
We're self funded, but we we operate on you know,
straight dogs, dog bites, aggressive dogs, and dog registration. In
twenty nineteen, we actually took over the humane agent position
(01:22):
as well, so we do all animal cruelty, no matter
the species.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And Scott, you are not a deputy. You are, as
it says on your sleeve, a dog warden. How is
that different from what we run into with the deputies.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And what so myself and the assistant dog warner at
the dog pound, neither one of us went through a
pot of training like the academy like most deputies do
and the Shriff's Office do. What we do is as
a dog warden. It's mostly on the job training. And
then we did we did no pot of humane agent training. Sure,
(01:55):
and then are you know we do carry firearms and tasers.
We go through all the same training the deputies do
for that kind of stuff, but we we didn't go
through the actual peace officers training academy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, And and I know recently there was a Facebook
campaign because you guys were overrun with animals and you
were running out of food and supplies and things like that,
and I think the typical person was like, Wow, why
doesn't the county step up and buy all that, because
they really can't talk a little bit about how the
funding of your organization and protecting the dogs and everything
(02:27):
that you do work.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So it's actually the higher revised code. It's the state
law that dog boarden dog pounds are self funded. They
get their money through dog tag sales, find fees, and donations,
so nothing it's called the Dog and Kennel Fund. No
other organizations allowed to touch that money, and therefore no
(02:48):
other organization can kind of put into that right. So
we we rely solely on dog tag sales and then
adoptions and you know, when we charge somebody we get
that fine money. And we rely on donations. But because
we're government, we can't do our own fundraising.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So how many animals can you house? Currently?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
There? So the dog Warden's Office is build in nineteen
ninety nine. It was originally built for ten to twenty dogs,
but because we took over the humane agent stuff and
the way the world has come now, back in ninety nine,
they would just euthanize when they got to full we're
classified it. It's called a no kill, but it's a
(03:32):
lot of people misinterpreate that no kill status. We got
recognized as because we have a ninety percent or higher
save rate.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So we still euthanize for aggression and sickness, but you know,
not for time or space. But right now we can
house up to comfortably about forty dogs. You know, we
have a garage and we use that as a quarantine
area to help, you know, keep disease down and stuff
like that. And we have large, heavy duty kennels that
we put the dogs in. So our main goal is
(04:03):
not to have that many dogs, right. We don't want
to stuff dogs and kennels, but you know, we also
don't want dogs running the street. And like I said,
there's only two of us, so it's kind of hard
to keep up with it all.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That's a lot. Yes, that's a lot, and you have
cantle texts and things like that, but obviously not a lot,
and it has to work through how your budget works.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah. So we have a full time kindle tech and
she's the office person as well, and then we have
two part time kindle techs that just come in from
eight to noon. They clean and then they go home. Right,
So somebody's there taking care of the animals every day,
and then myself and the other dog warn we worked
till about six o'clock at night, but we're on call
for emergencies after six pm. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And if somebody wanted to give a gift here at
the holidays for what you guys do, they can bring
out a cat litter, they can bring out bags of
dog food, they can do the things that you need,
talk a little bit about some of the things that
you need to operate obviously, anything that would keep the
dog happy and content and healthy. Right.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Right, So we we actually don't house the cats. To
see you each side, we're right next door. Yeah, we're
right side by side. We work really well with each other.
But we're out on Richland Road twenty two to fifty
two Richland Road. And we could always use dog food.
I mean it's constant dog food, dog treats, soft treats.
We send toys home with people that are not dogs,
(05:23):
I mean anything that will blankets. We use blankets because
of the garage dogs and stuff. We don't want them
sitting on a cold, you know, kennel. Right, So we're
we're big on that laundry detergent, so we clean those blankets.
But basically anything that can help thrive.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So how do we determine what dog would then go
up for adoption because you might have a situation where
you end up getting a dog in How does that
process work? You try to reach out to the owner,
you see if they have a tag, and we'll talk
about those a little more here in a minute. But
how does that work?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So the like I said, the ORC higher vice Code
seats that if if a dog is found running at
large without a tag, it's a three day straight hold.
We post it on our Facebook page. Try and you know,
make sure we push it out. Hey, we found this
dog in this area. Here's a picture of it. Try
and find its owner. If nobody comes within three days,
then then we'll adopt it out. We'll post for adoption
(06:14):
or rescue. I mean there's a rescue organizations that pool
from us too. If it has a dog tag, we
reach out to the owner, We go to their house,
we call them whatever we got to deal, and they
have fourteen days. After the fourteenth day, if they don't come,
then we adopt it out.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay, so it kind of works the same way, you
just get that that extra two weeks kind of a
thing from just a few days and right now is
the time to buy your dog tags and you need
to buy those annually. Correct talk about the dog tags
and how it works.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So dog tags again, that's how we that's how we
fund and it helps your Your dog's supposed to wear it,
so if it gets lost, has its dog tag on.
Anybody can get on the Otter's office website, look that
number up and tell where the dog lives, where the addresses,
and take it home and it helps us you know,
not bring dogs in. That's is on from December first
(07:02):
to January thirty first every year, and it's all over
the state of Ohio, but you register within the county
you reside in, and then after January thirty first, if
you don't buy them, you can be penalized for not
buying them on time.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Okay, And you can get them by going to the
Auditor's office using their online you can mail in. Talk
about all the different ways you can get those tags.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
So the dog Warden's Office we sell so you can
buy them annually. We also sell a three year or
permanent tag, which is a ten year tags. You can
buy that at the dog Warden's office. And you can
also get your kennel tags there. That's if you're breeding
and have more than five dogs and you're breeding all
of them. But at the Auditor's office you can also
purchase purchase the one to three permanent and service dog tags.
(07:45):
They don't sell the camel tags.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
We do that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So either one of those places. And then the Auditor's
office is the one that keeps track of all the
tags itself in their system, so you can mail them
into them, you can buy them on their website. Uh,
and then go into both offices.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Right, and somebody says, well, my dog's microchip, I don't
need to buy a tag that is not true.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Correct. So, and a lot of people misinterpret your rabies
tag in a vet's office for the dog tag as well.
Get that. So a dog tag is a is a
four digit number and it says Marion County on it
has the four digit number on it. And it's a
state law. That's not something that we force, but we
enforce it now because it's a higher vice code. So
(08:28):
if you don't get them, you can get charged with
fairy to register and and and like I said, we
really like try to educate. We don't want to have
to give you a ticket on top of shying your tag.
We don't want to be jerks about it, so we
want to make sure you get them before the penalties
and the and the citations. Love that.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
It's got great stuff, man. I I appreciate you coming in.
I've learned a ton today, uh and uh and I
really appreciate it. Hopefully folks did too. We're gonna put
this out as a podcast, so if you're hearing it
on the radio, it's also going to be on the
Marrine Now podcast channel and my podcas cast channel as
well for the Paul James Show. Because I think it's
that important and feel free to share that and get
it off to some other people so that so they
(09:09):
can get this information. Scott, how do people reach out
to you? I mean, obviously they can come out to
the dog Pound, but if they just want to learn
and they want to be more in tune to what's happening,
I would think hooking up with your Facebook page.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right. Yeah, so our Facebook page is Marion County, Ohio
dog Pound because there's a lot of Marion Counties in
different strates, right, But We also have a friend of
page on Facebook as well that's volunteer based. A bunch
of our volunteers run that page. They post our needs.
If we have a dog that needs medical care, they
post you know what it costs and all that. So
(09:42):
they do a lot of events as well.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Wonderful Scott, great information man. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate
the time and the conversation. Like I said, I've learned
a lot. Hopefully all of our listeners have as well,
and your best way to reach out is check out
their Facebook page and learn more about what goes on
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!