Harlow discusses stray dog problem with Mattawa City Council

MATTAWA — Wahluke School District Superintendent Andy Harlow spoke with the Mattawa City Council during Thursday’s regular meeting to discuss an ongoing issue of loose and stray dogs coming onto school campuses.

“It's not a shock, we have a dog issue, but it's to the point where every day for the last two weeks … our maintenance (staff) are coming to get dogs not just off our campus, but out of the schools,” Harlow said. “We had two puppies in the building yesterday, at Mattawa Elementary. They had just gone in, and so we had two puppies in there. We don't know what to do; we are just literally taking them and putting them back outside, but it's almost a daily occurrence … it's going to cause a problem at some point.”

Harlow said the district worries the dogs will eventually cause a serious injury.

“I know we did have a kid at Mattawa Elementary that got bit a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “If we don't address this, we're going to probably have some serious injury where a little kid is going to get hurt.”

The issue is not only the district’s but also the city’s, Harlow said. 

“They're coming from (the city),” he said. “This is really a city and a county and district issue … I don't have a solution, but our people are willing to help solve the issue, and they're willing to do what they need to to those dogs.”

Harlow asked Grant County Commissioner Cindy Carter, who was present at the meeting, how big of an issue stray and loose dogs are for the county. 

“It's huge … We just can't take the animals,” she said. “We just don't have the manpower to grab all the dogs and the animals that are running at large, but dangerous dogs we will pick up.”

Carter also talked about new ordinances in the county.

“We committed monies helping make some new rules stating that animals over three months old, they are now considered dogs instead of puppies. We have a lot of individuals that are selling dogs,” she said. “In Moses Lake, on Stratford Road every Saturday, they tell me that there are people selling puppies and they shouldn't be selling those puppies. So we've got a big problem and we’re working to address maybe licensing countywide, but it's a problem. And our kennel is full.”

Harlow acknowledged that the issue is not a new one.

“No one is amazed at what I'm saying,” he said. “I just need to know what we can do to help.”

Mayor Maria Celaya said the city’s dog holding facility is limited in space and is only meant for holding vicious animals, not ordinary strays or abandoned animals.

“The issue is finding the owner, and once the dogs are captured and posted, no one wants to collect,” she said.

Council Member Antonia Acosta said euthanizing dogs is a potential solution to the stray dog problem. 

“Euthanizing the animals; I know nobody wants to say it because there's groups out there and we all love animals, but at what point in time are we going to start doing that, as a county, as a city, as a community,” Acosta said. “Short-term — I'm talking about a year or two years — that's kind of the only solution I see, because of these dogs that are running around without tags. We can impose fees, licensing and spaying and neutering and all that stuff, but only responsible dog owners are going to do it. It's the ones that are irresponsible that we're having the issues with.”

Harlow said the district could potentially put in kennels to hold a few dogs, but that they don’t want to go into the business of holding animals. 

“I think if the city came up with something where they could euthanize, we would be more willing to do that on our end, to capture or collect these dogs and keep them and then know that there is an exit plan,” Harlow said. “We think we're gonna get stuck feeding them and taking care of them and that's not what we're set up for.”

The council did not make any decisions or plans regarding the school district’s situation during Thursday’s meeting.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com.

    A sign for Wahluke High School sits near the entrance to the school off of Road S Southwest on the edge of Mattawa. Wahluke School District Superintendent Andy Harlow spoke during Thursday’s regular Mattawa City Council meeting about dogs on school grounds.