DOVER, Del. - Dover police will be ceding responses to complaints about stray animals to the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare.
The agency announced the change in a Facebook post that read, "Effective Dec. 1, 2018 the Dover Police Department will no longer handle stray dog or dog in custody complaints. These calls will be handled by the Office of Animal Welfare at 302-255-4646. Any calls to the Dover Police Department will be transferred to the Office of Animal Welfare and a representative will be sent out to pick up same."
"The Dover Police Department Animal Control Unit WILL STILL handle all animal cruelty, animal nuisance, barking dog, wildlife complaints and all other animal enforcement for city ordinances and state laws."
Cpl. Mark Hoffman, a Dover police spokesman, said a memorandum of understanding was signed with the state to make the change. The decision was partially based on the cost for an animal control officer to bring stray animals to a shelter.
"There were only about 16 or 18 stray dogs that were handled by our department last year...We didn't see it feasible to pay $60,000 a year --- annually --- to the Brandywine valley SPCA," he said.
