I am a resident of Hopatcong NJ, if you take the time to look the Animal's of our town. The wildlife you will understand the need for a full-time Animal control officer. Dale has gone above and beyond for this town and it's residents. As seen in the picture he is one who would scale a 20foot rock cliff to save a dog! News 12 covered that story and many others about Dales endless kindness and going above the call of duty! 

Sign this petition to get the town to keep a full time animal control officer! Write Hopatcong's Mayor and Administrator. Hopatcong needs a full time ACO, we have a lot of wildlife that come down into neighborhoods. We have a pound that needs animal control to transport animals and move feral cats to new cages in order to maintain a clean environment. What would happen without the super fast response of an ACO who lives in town? Being attacked by a wild animal, stray dog, cat one phone call Dale is at the location within minutes. Without a full time ACO, you will see the number of stray cats jump to record highs. Lost dogs, stray dogs wandering the streets no one to help them. We ask the town to keep full-time Animal control officer Dale Sloat.

Board of health & council meeting Info on Dale: I was at meeting. 

During his sick leave, the police kept track of the the calls they handled for him and used an outside source for animal control. They reported the numbers did not justify a full time position. They said when he came back from leave they continued to monitor the number of calls and still they did not justify a full time position. They also stated issues arose where Dale did not know how to answer to situations the Chief questioned him on. They asked him to define what he did during his time at work and he said he spent a lot of time in the office  with paperwork but could not say exactly what paperwork. They said he was responsible for the pound being a disaster one year ago and it was unfit for animals. They said if it wasn't for the Pound Project coming in and fixing it, it would still be in terrible condition. What they do not mention in there report is: Dale had an employee At the pound that started off very good and than at the end did shoddy work. He was trying to fire her when they came in and condemned the pound on him. At the same time the Health Dept consolidated with The Sussex Cty Health Dept eliminating the staff which helped him with all the paperwork in the office including the licensing and pretty much left him on his own when he turned to the police for help. Lastly, they have no records for all the times he went out when he received direct calls from people for help that did not go through dispatch or when he went out on his own time to help never charging the town for overtime. They do not mention all his work with local organizations like boy & girl scouts or with the schools or at community events. This is just an overview of what I listened to last nite from the reports and the people that came and stood up for Dale.

Sign this petition to get the town to keep a full time animal control officer! Write hopatcong's Mayor and Administrator