Clark sent a letter to ten Windham County towns Nov. 4 saying that the sheriff's department would no longer provide animal control services effective July 1, 2009.
Clark held two meetings this summer to try to get towns to agree on a standard ordinance for animal control and to see if there was a solution to what many town managers say is a growing and serious problem.
But after making very little headway at the meetings, Clark confirmed on Wednesday that the towns with current contracts will have to make arrangements with another office to control animals when the 2010 fiscal year starts.
"I've been trying to get the towns in the county to come together to hire a full-time animal control person and I hope by us pulling out it will be an incentive," Clark said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "It was not an easy decision to make."
The Windham County Sheriff's Department currently handles some degree of animal control in Athens, Dummerston, Guilford, Jamaica, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Townshend, Westminster and Whitingham. Part of the challenge, Clark said, is that in each town the expectations are a little different.
Some towns have animal control ordinances, while others do not.
Some towns expect the sheriff to only handle only dog and wolf-hybrid issues while other communities call the department for anything from an "aardvark to a zebra," Clark said.
"Every town is different and there is a lot of confusion," said Clark. "Hopefully this decision will cut down on that confusion. When my deputies come on they don't sign up to be a dog catcher and that is what has been happening."
According to the letter Clark sent to the towns, the department will continue to enforce violations of all state statutes including those that involve animal abuse and neglect.
Clark also said in his letter that his department would have to make a significant investment in equipment if he wanted to continue and expand animal control services.
Westminster Town Manager Sonia Alexander said the town would likely have to add money to next year's budget to make sure there was someone in place to address animal issues in Westminster.
This year the Selectboard had to handle some serious issues between neighbors and town residents concerning dogs.
And in Putney, Town Manager Chris Ryan said the board had not had the opportunity to talk about the change, but would have to make some decisions about how to proceed.
"We definitely need some kind of professional to deal with animal control issues," said Ryan. "It is one of the hardest things to deal with. Emotions can run high when you are dealing with dogs and there is a real public health concern. It's a real headache but we're going to have to deal with it somehow."
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.