Courtesy Photo Erik Smith

ALPENA — Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith says he will not support renovating the old jail in Alpena and transitioning it into an animal shelter for Alpena County Animal Control.

The subject of using the old jail to house animals came up again recently after an animal hoarding situation where dozens of animals were discovered and confiscated. Some of the animals are being housed in Otsego County until there is room for them locally.

In a press release, Smith said bids are being accepted by the county so the facility can be sold. He said he is collecting data about the amount of animals the small county owned and operated shelter at the fairgrounds and wants to devise a plan moving forward to address animals that need to be housed.

“I want to be clear to the citizens of Alpena County, I have no interest in keeping the old jail for an animal control shelter,” Smith said. “The Board of Commissioners are currently accepting bids for the sale of that property, as they should. (As your) new sheriff, I have a long list of projects and potential changes to my office. I’m in the process of evaluating the animal control shelter at this time and I have no specific plans. If change is needed, an all encompassing look of everything needs to be completed before any decision on what is needed is made. Although the shelter is operating under the sheriff’s department, decisions regarding it aren’t solely mine to make. I firmly believe that a close working relationship with the Board of Commissioners will lead to decisions that will best serve the community.”

The former jail was used earlier this year to house cats after dozens of cats were rescued from a hoarding situation in January.

Animal Control Officer Michelle Reid proposed to the commissioners that the old facility be used as a permanent shelter location. Although the old jail is licensed to be an animal shelter, the commissioners elected to not move forward with the proposal and move forward with selling it.

Bids for the old jail are expected to be opened in the middle of July.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss–alpenanews.com.