Last month, about 50 people, including El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa and Rosemary Bakes-Martin, the administrator of the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment, attended a town hall meeting at the Falcon fire district station hosted by Douglas Bruce, county commissioner for District 2.Makita addressed the most recent (February) incidence of animal abuse in Black Forest.A veterinarian determined the livestock (five horses, six goats, one sheep, five cows and six llamas) were in poor condition, although not life-threatening, and needed to be seized. Because the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region does not cover the area and the sheriff has no facilities for the animals, Maketa said he accepted the offer from the Calhan Animal Auction to house the animals.After the county district attorneyís office decided they didnít need the animals to prosecute the owners, who fled to Texas, Maketa said the animals were placed on the auction block.All of the horses were sold at the auction. Local families were high bidders for three of the horses, Maketa said. He also said that two horses went to a Ft. Collins man, who is believed to have taken the horses to a place in Illinois, where horses are slaughtered for their meat, which is then shipped to France. ìThe bad thing was the haste with which the animals were auctioned,î Maketa added.ìWeíre working to find a humane, permanent solution. SAINT (Saving Animals in Need Together) Animal Rescue has offered to provide animal services for the unincorporated areas of El Paso County. They can use some county property to house confiscated animals. We still need to work out the details. We want to take the time necessary to make sure we put the right program in place.SAINT spokesman Jerry Rineck said, ìWe hope we can get together and make animal cruelty disappear from El Paso County. Weíre an all-volunteer organization funded by donations, and weíll be applying for grant money, too.îMaketa also addressed staffing issues. ìWe need 29 deputies on patrol right now, plus 11 more based on anticipated growth,î he said. ìWe also need 30 additional deputies for the number of inmates we have today.îThe county jail does not accept people convicted of misdemeanor offenses, he said. ìOther than that, we have little control over who gets sent to jail, and we have no control over when an inmate leaves. Inmates that need to go to a state facility canít go if the state refuses to take them. We would have 300 beds available today if everyone else met their responsibilities.îA tent ñ paid for exclusively by the offenders ñ will soon provide additional housing for inmates at the county jail.Bruce then discussed county issues of concern to him. Development is one. ìDevelopers run this county,î Bruce said.He addressed the Falcon Heights bond issue. In 1999, as a condition of approval, the county required Falcon Heights developer Tom Pfost to post a $650,000 bond to cover the cost of the developmentís infrastructure like paved roads. The county did not impose a deadline; the roads were never built. The $650,000 isnít there. Bruce said the bond was issued by an insurance company that is bankrupt. ìItís now worth 10 cents on the dollar,î Bruce said. ìWe let it drag on and on in a place with inadequate infrastructure. The county let them [the residents of Falcon Heights] down.ìThere is no limit on how long land can be exposed when it is graded. I tried to get development services to have a limit, but they wanted to get permission from the developers.îBruce also talked about litter, which he said is largely caused by new construction. He said he asked the county to impose higher fines for littered sites, along with a mandate that builders provide covered dumpsters on the sites. The county would not agree, he said.He also talked about developers paying for schools and fire stations. ìDevelopers Ö rely on the people who already live here to pay,î Bruce said.Bakes-Martin thanked Bruce for relaying information about a developer who is putting in mobile homes near Yoder, without permits or septic systems.Bruce said he plans to hold more town meetings now that the weather is getting better.
