Tonawanda Mayor John White doesn’t want City Hall to turn into a doggy day care.
That’s why he sent a letter the other day to city department heads informing them employees are not allowed to take pets to work with them for the day.
Carolyn Russo, a kennel technician from the Pit Chic shelter, looks on as City of Tonawanda Dog Control Officer Dan Maltbie pets Daphne, a mountain cur mix taken into the shelter as a stray, outside City Hall on Tuesday.
White said his office recently received complaints about workers bringing their dogs to City Hall.
He said he sent out word about the no-dogs rule because he’s concerned about the animals being disruptive, causing problems for employees who have pet hair allergies, leaving accidents in city offices and – in a potential worst case – biting someone.
“That’s not an environment that I want to create here at City Hall,” White said in an interview.
The policy applies to dogs staying for an extended period. Members of the public still may bring their dogs when they stop by the City Clerk’s Office to apply for a dog license, for example, or pay a bill. And trained and certified service dogs are allowed under federal law.
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Also, the mayor continues to let workers from the Pit Chic shelter bring a dog into his office every couple of weeks for a brief visit, which spotlights an animal awaiting adoption.
“He’s going, ‘Well, these are the reasons why I don’t want a dog in City Hall.’ But it’s contradictory,” said Chris Fisher, who represents the Common Council’s 2nd Ward. “He’s doing the same thing, bringing a dog into City Hall.”
Daphne, who is between 6 and 9 months old, is named after the “Scooby-Doo” character.
A round of calls to other towns in Erie County found the fur isn’t exactly flying over this question.
Timothy Koller, a deputy town clerk for Amherst, said he’s not aware of any workers bringing in their pooches since former Town Clerk Marjory Jaeger did so on occasion. He said he also doesn’t know whether the town has a formal rule on employee pets.
Amherst residents do sometimes bring in their canines while picking up a license for them but, Koller said, “It’s very rare.”
Carol Driscoll, a deputy town clerk in Cheektowaga, said staff used to take pictures of residents with their newly licensed dogs and put the images on display.
“We had a whole wall of photos,” she said, but the town’s new passport camera doesn’t photograph animals well so this practice ended.
Driscoll said she isn’t aware of any rule on town workers and pets and, further, “No employee has ever asked.”
In Hamburg Town Hall, there’s also no formal policy on employee pets, said Deputy Town Clerk Brad Rybczynski. “It hasn’t been an issue,” he said.
But the public is welcome to bring a dog into the Hamburg Town Clerk’s Office.
“We have dog biscuits,” Rybczynski said. “We’re pretty dog friendly.”
Puppy love took root in Tonawanda City Hall in January. That’s when White began his “Mayor’s Paws for a Cause” effort. White said he got the idea to help after city Dog Control Officer Dan Maltbie raised concerns to him about how many dogs are awaiting adoption from the Pit Chic shelter on Grand Island, where the city takes its strays.
Twice a month, a Pit Chic worker brings a different dog to City Hall, where White or another city worker poses with the canine for a photo that is posted to the mayor’s Facebook page.
Carolyn Russo, a kennel technician from Pit Chic, said Daphne was picked up as a stray in Niagara Falls and brought to the shelter on Grand Island.
“They come in, and they’re in here for 10 minutes, take a shot and they visit everybody and they leave,” White said.
Additionally, city workers don’t object if members of the public bring a dog into the Clerk’s Office while conducting a transaction there.
Apparently, however, one or more city employees decided to bring their own dogs into the office in recent weeks.
City Clerk J. Mario Peña said one worker in the Clerk’s Office has brought in a dog. This didn’t cause any issues, he said, “aside from some barking.”
Peña and White wouldn’t say who, specifically, let the dogs out at City Hall. But it was enough to prompt the mayor’s July 19 letter.
“It has come to my attention that there have been a few instances where staff have taken it upon themselves to bring the family dog into work to spend the day,” White wrote. “While we all love our animals, the professional offices of City Hall are not the place.”
He went on to describe the Pit Chic program and to reiterate that members of the public can stop by with their pets but emphasized that daylong dog visits aren’t allowed.
“I was actually on a Zoom meeting” with employees in various city offices, White recalled, “And I heard barking. I’m like, you gotta be kidding me. Where is that barking coming from? I said, ‘We can’t do this.’ “
Sharon Stuart, White’s administrative assistant, said it’s not part of janitors’ responsibilities to clean up after employees’ dogs.
“They shouldn’t even be in here. That’s not professional. And, on top of it, now our custodial staff has to clean up a mess,” Stuart said in describing a hypothetical unwanted scenario. “So he had to nip it in the bud.”
To illustrate this point, the latest featured “Paws for a Cause” dog visited City Hall last Tuesday. Carolyn Russo, a kennel technician with Pit Chic, walked Daphne, a mountain cur mix, into the office of Judy Kurtzworth, White’s executive secretary. Soon enough, Daphne, who’s somewhere between 6 and 9 months old, had left some “happy piddles,” as Russo put it, in several spots on the rug.
“I’m going to bring my carpet cleaner back at lunchtime,” Stuart said.
Stuart moved the photo shoot with Daphne, a stray from Niagara Falls named after the “Scooby-Doo” character, to the lawn outside.
White and Stuart said they don’t know whether the Pit Chic visits gave some employees the idea that every dog could have its day at City Hall.
“I couldn’t venture to guess why. I have a dog. I have no desire to bring her here,” Stuart said. “I’m too busy.”
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