After reading the last couple of articles concerning Jerry Clase and allegations of animal abuse, it has become clear that people have clearly forgotten his title of animal control officer. In the allegation of Clase's abuse toward a pitbull, Times-Union wrote "That pitbull, according to an employee at the AWL, was described as vicious." Jerry Clase's job was to control the animal. Pitbulls are bred to be aggressive and I highly doubt Clase would have been able to control the animal by offering a dog biscuit. As in law enforcement, sometimes aggressive action is needed when dealing with certain animals.
Jerry Clase has held this position for 23 years and been around and owned animals his entire life. If Jerry Clase abuses animals, doesn't it seem logical that facts of it would have surfaced before now? Isn't it possible that Clase's judgement is better than the general public's? In fact, didn't the veterinarian, Dr. Brungardt, confirm Clase's decision not to remove horses from the Sidney farm as they were not being mistreated? I think it would be in the public's best interest to just let Mr. Clase do his job because he obviously has more experience than most of the Times-Union's readers.
I would like to respond to a previous letter to the editor written by Conni Ratcliff from Silver Lake. She wrote, "I called Jerry Clause a couple of years ago about a pit bull that had puppies and she was starved, you could see her ribs and hips. You could tell she was emaciated. She was trying to feed a litter of puppies. Someone saw the owner kick one of the pups across the room, and reported it to me, and I reported it to him. He told me he needed more than just heresay to go check it out. I told him to just drive by the trailer he could see for himself, but he said he needed facts and hung up on me."
Ms. Ratcliff, just like a police officer cannot enter a home without a warrant, neither can Mr. Clase enter someone's home just because he receives a call about abused animals. Mr. Clase needs a warrant and proof of animal abuse in order to obtain one. Whether the animals were abused or not, unfortunately, was not the issue. Mr. Clase was following the laws and rules as needed by his position.
As the Times-Union has mentioned several other anonymous and redacted e-mails with allegations toward Clase had been received. It sounds as though someone has a personal dislike for Jerry Clase and are spreading lies in order to get him fired. I hope the citizens of Kosciusko County will join me in standing up for Mr. Clase to see that that doesn't happen. He has served this community for many years, very well, in and out of his position as animal control officer.
