Board of Health Meeting Includes Presentation on Animal Shelter

During their first meeting of 2013, Bloomfield's Board of Health is hearing a presentation on one of the most talked about topics of 2012: management of the John A. Bukowski Shelter for Animals.

The agenda for the meeting scheduled to be held tonight at the Mayor's Conference room at 6:30 p.m., includes two items concerning the animal shelter. The first is an Animal Shelter update and presentation and the second is listed as Animal Shelter Transfer. 

At the Bloomfield Township Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19, responsibility for the Animal Shelter was given to Township Administrator Ted Ehrenburg. Previously the Bloomfield Township Committee had given Neighbor to Neighbor Network, a volunteer branch within the Department of Health and Human Services, control of day-to-day operations at the shelter.

NTNN has attracted its share of controversy. In March of 2012, the shelter suspended its volunteer program.  A post on the Facebook page Save the Bloomfield/Bukowski Shelter urges residents to "keep the pressure on" and says that "NTNN should not be awarded the contract for animal services. The post accuses NTNN of culling emails and phone numbers of adoptors in order to Market their services and get people to come to town council meetings.

In addition to the alleged intrusive practices, the NTNN has come under fire for its role in the controversy surrounding the stray pit bull named Memphis. NTNN members deemed Memphis unadoptable for now after evaluations by dog behavioral experts, to the dismay of dog trainers Jeff and Diana Coltenback, who wished to take the dog in.

After Memphis was brought to South Dakota, a move that prompted an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit by the Coltenbacks.