The city council voted to hire a part-time animal control officer at its Tuesday night meeting. The new employee will assist full-time animal control officer Sally Roman.

LOPD Chief Buddy Williams said the city pound has been relying on volunteers to assist Roman with the influx of calls.

“We handled 138 animal complaint calls last month,” said Williams. That’s with the volunteer help. Prior to using a volunteer, the animal control officer could only handle 50-55 calls per month.

The new officer will work 20 hours per week. The position will cost the city about $10,000 for the remainder of the current budget year, which ends Sept. 1.

The position is scheduled to be advertised soon.

Over the last few months the city of Live Oak and LOPD have been working on improving the city pound’s operations and facilities. Roman came under fire at a city council police committee meeting in January for not doing enough to take stray and abandoned pets off the streets. Williams, interim chief at the time, set guidelines to fix the problem.

Among the measures enacted were for Roman to be dispatched through the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office instead of the police department. This would ensure that calls were documented and handled appropriately. Another requirement was for Roman to fill out a more detailed report documenting action taken on cases, as well as follow up actions.

“It was all about accountability,” said Williams.

Since the new rules were set in place Roman has been doing her job well and things have been running smoothly, Williams said.

The city of Live Oak has invested about $10,000 for a new shelter. The previous shelter was old and run-down with little space for animals. The new pound, located in front of the water plant on Lime Avenue, includes two new buildings, a cat building, more cages and a compound area for pets to roam around.

The new facility opened Feb. 1.

The Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office employees two full-time and one part-time animal control officers.