DEAR EDITOR:

I attended the Warren City Council meeting on Feb. 10.

The issue of the dog warden came up in the caucus meeting and the council meeting regarding the contract of the dog warden, Jason Cooke.

The first lady who spoke said that the city needs to keep Jason on as dog warden and suggested that they hire a deputy warden, which is what I thought. Then a second woman spoke against Jason for having more animals than the shelter can hold, to which someone spoke out and said, “You should take them home then.” She also said that she didn’t like that Jason was taking dogs from people of poverty, her words.

The dogs taken were taken legally; they weren’t being properly taken care of.

My opinion is that those that are of low income who also can’t take care of an animal shouldn’t have an animal. Jason did his job — removing these animals from a bad situation.

A couple of gentlemen spoke up because their dogs were taken and one of them said he had gone to pick up his dog, got to talk to Jason and Jason had done the right thing.

My thoughts are that keeping Jason would be a good thing. He was given the ball by the city and ran with it. We have had a few dog wardens in the past who only lasted six months to a year until Jason was hired. There are two issues here: one is Jason’s contract between him, our safety director and the city’s union, which is involved; and, second, are there other candidates for the dog warden position who have the type of qualification Jason Cooke has?

Working for the city and being in the union doesn’t make someone qualified for the job. This has to be addressed. We have had dog issues on our streets in the past and Jason has done a great job in animal control.

I hope that the city and Jason can work out any issues, as the citizens don’t want to lose Jason.

I, for one, certainly don’t.

PAUL YANNUCCI