City council to let bureau of fire adopt dog
A new, furry friend will be joining the Butler Bureau of Fire.
City council approved a memorandum of understanding with the bureau of fire on Thursday, June 12, to establish terms to house a dog at the fire station after firefighters asked to adopt a dog last month.
“We’ve gone and back and forth, forth and back and all over the place,” Mayor Bob Dandoy said before the vote. “Solicitor Breth has looked over the MOU, the chief has looked it over, everybody seems to be OK with it.”
The final vote was 4-1, with Dandoy and Councilmen Troy Douthett, Don Shearer and Daniel Herr voting in favor. Councilman Larry Christie voted against. Christie declined to share the reasoning behind his decision, but clarified that he does like dogs.
Under the memorandum, all responsibility for and costs related to the dog have been undertaken by firefighter Larry Shuler. This gives the city immunity from any liability issues related to the dog’s care.
“All obligations related to the dog will be the responsibility of firefighter Shuler,” Douthett said as he read a line from the memorandum aloud.
The agreed-upon memorandum is for a one-year trial basis and only applies to the specific dog. After the year is up, council will need to bring an extension to vote. Council can also terminate the memorandum prematurely if issues are identified.
At the May 29 city council meeting, firefighter Dave Greco spoke to council to convince them to let the bureau adopt Arlo, a dog at the Butler County Humane Society. After hearing Greco speak, council decided to put it on the budget as soon as possible.
“I just hope that if there are any incidences, we will be notified,” Douthett said to fire chief Chris Switala after the vote.
Now that the memorandum is approved, the bureau is free to pick up Arlo from the humane society. Switala said Arlo is likely to be picked up Friday.
The next Butler City Council meeting is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 26.
