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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1957)
rOTTSTEEW MEDFORD (ORKSOK) MAIL THIBUNE Sunday, August II, 1957 Dog Control ftfkeir STRAY DOGS Poking against the wire fence around their pen are four strays. These dogs ar separated from owned dogs in the four pen pound. Anyone wanting a dog may have his choice from those in the pens, paying 25 cents feed charge for the number of days the dog has been at the pound. Hagler keeps lists of persons and descriptions of dogs they would like to own, in case animals matching the descriptions are picked up. F i A r J bin -4 -l- 3 r tiff J! ..J rf . .titty 1 -'iij CONTROL OFFICER J. Chris Hagler, 23, handle dog control duties for Jackson coun ty. In addition to maintaining the dog pound, he travels around the county picking up stray animals, protecting livestock, and checking dogs for licenses. Strays and sick dogs are transported to the pound in the cage shown . above in the back of Hagler's panel truck. The officer logs two to three thousand miles per month. ;.,r,rr. 1 DOG PENS Wire fence and aluminum walls is "looKing around" for a site for a new enclose dogs picked up by the dog control pound. The present one is located at 2872 officer, or brought by their owners to the Howard ave., one block diagonally north of county pound. Each of the fcftir pens is half Howard school, indoors, half outdoors. The dog control board i a.?"-: m 1 GRANDVIEW-LONE PINE Alaska Resident Returns By LILLIAN KNIGHT Grandview-Lone Pine Miss Diane Bower left for her home in Anchorage, Alaska, after be ing a guest at the W. A. Strawn home. On her way here she at tended the Lutheran league con vention in Missoula, Mont. While here she visited with Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Hanscom in Phoenix, her grandmother and great grandmother in Ashland, Mrs. Hazel Leslie, and Mrs. Ezra Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Les lie of Gustine. Calif., came to the Strawn home to see her. She is a niece of Mrs. Strawn. Mr. and Mrs. James Harth and children of Tujunga, Calif., left for Reedsport Friday on their way home after visiting for a week at the Robert Lindsay home. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Strawn re turned recently from a two-week vacation visiting relatives in and near Eugene. A boy. Charles Scott, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Davis. He was born Aug. 6 and weighed 7Va pounds. A birthday party for Christie Bench was given by her mother Monday morning honoring her eighth birthday. Ice cream, cake, and punch were served and the children played games. Those at tending were Jeff, Suzanne, and Morgan Fish. Sheila Butler, Phyllis Strawn, Leta, Linda, and Lucie Norris, Greg and Susan Bench, brother and sister of Christie, and Christie. and sons, Bob and David, of Palmdale, Calif., are visiting at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dick Knight, and other rel atives and friends in the valley. Mr. and Mrs. Norman Jahn and family returned Tuesday from a five-week vacation through the Southern states and visiting relatives and friends in Denver, South Dakota, and Ken tucky. They spent most of their time in St. Petersburg, Fla., where they visited Jahns' folks. J. Chris Hagler . On Call 24 Hours For Homeless Dogs By DON ROBINSON Mail Tribune Staff Writer Man's friend, the dog, is a for lorn creature without the care of man. In such a state, he wanders homeless and forages for food. Sometimes he kills livestock sheep, cattle, chickens. When that happens in Jack son county,, the dog becomes a concern of county government. Jackson county's dog control authority Is vested in a three man board, appointed by the county court. The active part of control exercised by the county rests in the dog pound and its keeper, the dog control officer. The pound is located at 2872 Howard ave., one block diagon aliy north of Howard school. To get there, one travels High way 99, north, to the first road past the state police station, then right, to the end of the road about five blocks from the high way. Square Board Sign There, a small, square board sign, slightly askew on a fence post, indicates "County Dog Pound." Behind the sign is a yard, a weeping willow tree, and a white, two bedroom house. A field of grass, a small barn and a cow are to the left of the house1. At the right stands an open shed. Straight back, in the center of a gravel driveway, sits a tight little hut with one lath-barred window. It , resembles a guard house, and serves as food stor age room and electrocution chamber. To the rear of this are dog pens: a 16 by 40 foot concrete floor, divided by Cyclone wire fencing into four equal units. Spread over half the floor area and in the middle is a 16 by 20 foot aluminum shed. Access Either Way Each of the four pens are half indoor and half outdoor. Open ings in the aluminum walls pro vide access either way. The entire property covers slightly more than an acre, and is county owned. A personable young man of 23, J. Chris Hagler, is dog con trol officer. He's held the job since March, 1956. He, his wife, and their three sons occupy the house. Hagler's duties are listed in state law. impound dogs not li censed, reduce damage by dogs to livestock, make arrests of dog law violators, collect license fees, and investigate claims against the dog license fund. Claims are made by county residents whose stock has been killed by dogs. The county pays a compensation. This runs from $15 for a sheep to 75 cents for a chicken. On 24-Hour Call The dog control officer Is on call 24 hours a day. He is sup posed to work a six-day week, but usually finds Sundays partly occupied. His work begins when the telephone rings. A call could send him with rifle to a pasture where dogs are killing sheep. Or, as happens more often, with snare to a residence for a stray. He travels in a yellow panel truck, with a wood .and wire cage in the back. He built the cage, and the snare (an old shovel handle with a rope loop at the end) that he uses on wilder dogs. After being bitten three times handling dogs by the nape of the neck, Hagler now grabs them by both ears to get them into the cage. They're not hurt, but from time to time a passer by (generally a woman) will see the operation and phone com plaints of cruelty to city police, the county court, the Humane society or Hagler himself. Checks Licenses If few calls come in, Hagler drives or walks from house to house, checking dogs for li censes. , Dog owners in the county have from January through February of each year to buy licenses. The fee is $1.50. A $1 penalty is attached thereafter, if the dog is eight months 'or more of age. The control officer can issue licenses on the spot, or give citations allowing about 10 days to buy a license. Hagler testifies that "the pub lic is a funny thing." Persons of Don Week ?4 1 4 i 1 ELECTROCUTION WIRES Hanging from a wall inside the death house at the pound are ends of the. wire used in electrocuting un wanted dogs. The hut serves also as food storage room. Sacks of meal are in the background. lower incomes are on the aver age more willing to pay than those more able. Hagler knows one Ashland resident who had just beaten a $5 traffic fine at a cost of $75 foi; court charges. The man had an unlicensed dog, and intended to leave it so. He was issued a citation. Im mediately, he contacted his law yer and was told the law offered no escape. Reluctantly, he gave Hagler $2.50 and received the small metal tag for his dog. Enforcing the license law is a task to keep plugging at, not to complete. Hagler says that one man on foot might cover Med ford adequately in a year. But Hagler's ward is the entire county, and licensing duties are combined with livestock protec tion and collection of strays. Biggest Headache The officer's biggest headache is created by people who "dump" animals. Dogs and cats are left in gunny sacks and boxes, or freed on foot by roadsides. These soon become strays, public nuisances and helpless. Other county law officers city police, sheriffs officers, consta bles aid Hagler whenever pos sible, either calling him or bringing in strays. ' Lambing season is the worst for livestock trouble. During one spring, dogs killed 38 sheep in one week. Hagler spends much time waiting for attacking dogs to return to the herds. He catches them if possible, shoots if he must. A dog is personal property by state law, and the dog officer cannot touch an owned dog, un der ordinary circumstances. He can only cite its owner. Cats Brought In Some cats are brought to the pound. They're kept in make shift cages in the open wood shed. At the pound, Hagler separ ates strays from dogs with own ers, and females in heat from the rest. Dog owners who want to be rid of their pets may, for a 25 cent fee, leave them at the pound. Hagler advertises every dog that enters the pens in the lost- and-found section of Mail Trib une want ads. He keeps all dogs at least five days after they are advertised. If no one claims them or takes them as pets, they are destroyed. 'Killing Day' Saturday is usually . "killing day. ' The officer leads each dog inside the small, barred-window hut. The floor is covered with straw. One clip at the end of a household 120 volt electric wire goes on the dog's lip, and one is attached underneath its belly. Hagler flips a switch. There is no noise. In three to five sec onds, the dog is dead. Carcasses are loaded into the panel truck and transported to the Medford municipal garbage dump for cremation, at 25 cents per dog. This June, 219 dogs were de stroyed. In July it was 196, and in the first two weeks this month, 105 had been done away with. Persons Visit Pound More than 100 persons per week visit the pound looking for new pets. New owners pay only a 25-cent feed charge for the number of days the dogs have been in the pens. Hagler keeps a list of persons' names and descriptions of dogs they would like to have. If he picks up a dog matching a de scription, he notifies the pros pective owner. Each morning, the dog con trol officer hoses out the pens. Sewage runs off to the side into a grass covered ditch of stand ing water, overflow from a neighbor's irrigation. Hagler hopes a new pound will be TJuilt and although no definite steps have been taken, the board acknowledges that one is in the "talking stage." The present pound was brought inside the city limits by the Berrydale annexation. Septic Tank Wanted In the meantime, Hagler wants the county to install a septic tank for the pens. At the last meeting of the control board such action was disapproved. Sitting on the board today are W. H. Arnold, route 1, Medford; Charles Cingade, Pioneer rd.; and Warren Bayliss, chairman, 5758 Crater Lake ave. Arnold is a farmer and fruit grower, Cingcade is a farmer, and Bayliss manages the cold storage plant at Myron Root and company. Cingcade has the longest mem bership, at "16 or 18 years"; Ar nold has been on 10 years, and chairman Bayliss has served 2V4 years. The board sets Hagler's sal ary, appropriates other moneys to the pound, and decides upon livestock claims. All claims are paid out of the dog license fund. Any fund reserves over $1,000 at Jan. 1 each year are trans ferred to the general county fund. Start ef Year At the beginning of fiscal year DEATH HOUSE Dogs are electrocuted inside this hut 'if, after being advertised in Mail Tribune want ads, they are not: claimed or taken by new owners. Hagler has destroyed more than 200 per month this summer. Bodies are cremated at the Medford munici- pal garbag dump. Mrs. George Ketchum is the new troop leader for the Girl Scout troop 12. Leaders for grades tvo and three are needed in the troop. Mr. and Mrs. George Knight HIBISCUS Hardy Giant - 8 in. to 10 in. Flowers Select Colors Now for Fall Planting LEWIS NURSERY Jacksonville Turn right at drug store, V mi. north en Old Stage Road At BARRETTE HEARING AID Here for the first tiro anywhere in the world is berrette bear ing aid designed for yoa to conceal comptetebr in ywf has. You can dip tfce Tooemaster Barrett oa ia sg courts ... jost sa yov wonid a regular heir ornament YoqH bear never before Sounds come in dear and strong without any trace of annoying dotbing noise. Try the new Tonemastar Bar j tette .. . a completely new expenenc m bearinc TOUI TONEMASTa KALEK S George E. White HEARING AIDS 131 West Main ' Medford, Oregon Phone or Write for FREE DEMONSTRATION in Your Home SP 3-1841 1956-57 fJulv 1. 195B1 there a balance of $4,474.62 in the dog license fund. Receipts from li censes tor tne year were 57,750. Disbursements were S8.983.68. By June 30. 1957. the fund had a balance of $3,240.94. For his services. Hazier re ceives a monthly salary of $225, pius penalty money, free rental of the house, and eieht cents a mile traveling compensation. He iugs iwo to tnree inousana miles per month on the job. Just this ADril. his salarv wai raised from $175 per month. Hagler has no veterinary training. He got the iob throuch the recommendation of his grandfather, D. Jones, route 2, box 363C, Medford, who served as dog control officer for nearly three years, from 1953 to 1956. Hagler likes dogs, and has al ways had one or moro of hi own. Today he keeps three nounas, a Keabone, a Beagle, and a Walker, and a Siberian husky. The hounds he enters in field trials and uses to run coons and wild cats. Threatened Walkout Averted in New York New York Hf) A threatened walkout by 1,200 milktruck drivers that would cut off 95 per cent of the New York area's milk supply was averted for at least the week end early Satur day. Negotiators for the Teamsters Union and employers broke off talks for the week end without reaching agreement. Although the union had threat ened to instruct its members to walk off their jobs at midnight Saturday, the drivers were told to continue pickups and deliver ies until Monday. This Week's HISTORY MYSTERY What Part Did This Medal Play in Oregon's History? CLUE: These medals were' made in three sizes and grades. This is th largest and was most preferred because it bears the likeness of President Thomas Jeff erson. The reverse side shows the clasped hands, pipe and war axe crossed, with the legend "Peace and Friendship." . 'Afaisoc, poijoih uofiajQ m jt Xdsip us mou si 's,Q6g m u; uoiuije 40 jseaijpou JAiy iiquiniOQ ui pu!i u uo punoj ssm paui t jaiijs bui6ijo u jo suiBiuei m sXaujnoj JiBijj 6u;jnp 4am Am bl sj9ii0 ueipuj o uoifnqiifsip joj put simb-j suifdpQ Aq psujss ajeM tjcpauj i)ans :g3MSNV This column is presented weakly for the furtherance of historical interest and education by the OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pertfomj, Orfn The Selection Room Plainly marked prices, so it isn't necessary for a funeral director to invade family privacy while they make their selection from among inexpensive wood to enduring metal. 'The best costs no more, why accept less? Conger- FUNERAL DIRECTORS W. MAIN AT SIXTH 'Mi
