Plum Residents to Speak Out Against Dog Catcher

Plum Borough residents who aren't happy with how the current animal control services handles animals are expected to address council on Monday.

Since the end of August, residents throughout the east suburbs created a Facebook page called Stop Hoffman Kennels showing their displeasure with Hoffman Kennels of Delmont, which provides services to Plum, Oakmont, Verona and many other communities. The page has 1,315 "likes."

Several Plum residents already have signed a "Protect our Pets" petition—as of Friday night, it had 294 signatures.

Sandi Roach-Heller and Toni Soxman are among the Plum residents who are encouraging others to attend Monday's council meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. at the borough building.

The residents who are part of the group—there is one main group and several subgroups, including one in Plum—outline bad experiences with Hoffman Kennels, in which dogs have been mistreated, neglected and euthanized.

By law, Hoffman Kennels must keep a dog in its possession for 48 hours—not including weekends. Dogs that are not claimed within that time frame can be taken to a shelter or be euthanized.

"We would like to see the accountability of this contract changed for the benefit of the dog," Soxman wrote in a letter to the group. "We are asking our borough officials to look into this agreement with Hoffman Kennels and see where we can improve on the treatment of our beloved family pets.

"We need to have a better communication process that includes notifying owners that their dog has been picked up by Hoffman Kennels…Please help us speak for the animals who can not speak for themselves."

According to an article in the Plum Advance Leader, Gary Hoffman, owner of Hoffman Kennels, said he typically keeps dogs for a period longer than required and that he works with local animal shelters to place dogs. He also said it sometimes is hard to get a hold of some dog's owners.

_______________________

Plum-Oakmont Patch is on Facebook and on Twitter. Don't forget to sign up for our daily email newsletter by clicking here.