Council approves sale of Nero
♦ City takes loss on K-9 dog purchased just months before
The Aragon City Council resolved at least one of the issues they had when former Chief Brad Loyd and K-9 Officer Sgt. Gene Brown turned in their resignations in past weeks.
It required a special called session on Tuesday morning at Aragon City Hall to determine the fate of Nero, the recently purchased four-legged member of the city’s police force.
Now he’s headed off to another department with the promise of updates on how he’s getting on in the world.
Council members voted unanimously at the conclusion of a session to sell Nero to the City of White for use in their police department, and the new owners got a bargain after putting in a bid of just $4,000 for the pup.
The city paid $7,000 for the dog and paid an additional $5,500 for
handler training just months ago when Nero was brought onto the department.
Council members expressed their hopes for keeping the dog, but Interim Chief Allison Taulbee, White Police Chief Dane Hunter and Public Works Superintendent Daniel Johnson all provided their opinions that it wasn’t a good idea.
“As much as I hate to say it, he’s wasting away,” Johnson said during council discussions over what to do with Nero. “We’re letting a good dog sit there and not work. You’re going to let him sit t here and be useless.”
Taulbee added her concerns, and appreciated the work Nero already did in the field to help during traffic stops to find drugs which ultimately leads to seizures that come back to the city. However because of the manpower issues within the department, and the fact that one seizure’s paperwork would take handler and dog off of their usual patrol routes, it was likely more cost effective to sell the dog in the long term.
When council members asked why the dog couldn’t be handled and worked with by Brown on an interim basis, Johnson and Hunter cautioned against it citing that it would further confuse Nero to bond with several people over time.
“I’m one of his biggest supporters. But as a person I feel compassion because he’s laying out there all day,” Johnson said. “As an employee I look at it as we’re losing something everyday.”
Johnson added that in an incident with Nero earlier that morning, he came close to being bitten. Further liability issues were also discussed about whether Nero could stay with Brown, along with his lack of employment with the city.
Several council members added their concerns about the money spent already on dog and handler, plus Nero’s treatment ahead of his sale.
“We’re not treating him as an employee, we’re treating him as property,” council member Amy Causey said.
Mayor Garry Baldwin did reply that Nero falls in a strange middle ground within the city – insured like an employee, but also considered property – and that ultimately the decision was up to the council.
Causey added during her remarks that “If we lose this dog, and we get rid of this dog, we’re not getting another one so long as I’m on this council.”
Representing the City of White’s offer for Nero, Hunter said that if the Aragon council wanted to wait further to make a decision about what to do with Nero, it would add more conditions to the offer they made. After a recess, he came back and apologized for overstepping his bounds and then stating that if the council were to wait 30 days to sell, the city would withdraw the offer.
It was the only offer made for Nero.
“I know it’s a bad situation, a tough situation and a tough decision,” Hunter said. “You all have a lot invested in this at this point, and we’ll help in any way we can.”
Hunter, who previously served with the Aragon Police Department, was hired away at the beginning of 2018 to become the new Chief of White’s department in Bartow County. He offered to bring Nero back to help with road checks and any assistance needed for tracking people who have become lost or are suspects on the run.
“I have one request: send pictures of Nero periodically so we can see progress of how he is doing,” Pittman asked.
The council also said that no additional equipment other than the outdoor kennel that was part of the sale will be donated, and instead will be up to members to decide what will happen next.
“I don’t want anything given away or donated, I want for all that to come before us,” council member Candace Seiz requested. “Honestly there’s no win here, and there’s no good situation here.”
She added that “we’re just doing what we think is best for Nero. But in my opinion not what’s best for the city but there’s nothing we can do about that now.”
Council members ultimately approved the sale of Nero, but did so only after correcting an error they made for the second time in meetings this month. Both during their July 19 session and later during the July 24 session, they began discussion without ever approving the agenda first.
After a first round of discussion and a recess, the council came back and corrected the error.
Nero was turned back into the city by Brown after his resignation from the Aragon Police Department on July 14. After that, the German Shepherd sat mainly in an outdoor kennel for more than a week while the city figured out what direction to move in.
Along with the equipment purchased, the cost of dog and training, the city also spent $450 to build a platform for Nero to rest on temporarily behind city hall in the kennel after Johnson noticed the concrete he was laying on was causing the dog discomfort from hot conditions.