Things are heating up in Geauga County regarding the future of the county’s dog warden and dog shelter.

This follows a heated exchange earlier this month in which the sheriff and the county attorney’s office criticized the director for failing to do his job.

Later this morning, the board of county commissioners will meet to discuss what happens next. County officials will discuss who should run the dog shelter; the sheriff’s office says it can do a better job for less money, but the shelter disagrees and calls on residents to come to the 9:30 a.m. meeting to show their support for keeping things the way they are are.

This controversy began when Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand proposed that his office take over the dog shelter. Sheriff and prosecutor say dog ​​warden Matthew Granito failed to respond to calls, picked up loose dogs and focused too much on repatriating animals from out-of-county shelters .

They say taking over the shelter would be cheaper and better for residents.

But Granito disagrees. The guard says the law doesn’t allow him to seize certain dogs. He says he has been working for months to resolve the problem.

Since the proposal was announced, a petition with more than 3,000 signatures has been created to stop the change in direction. The petitioners write that they have adopted more than 192 dogs this year and helped countless shelters and other shelters. They fear that the new management will close the shelter.

A county official told us that if the sheriff’s office took over, they would put a deputy in charge, keep the dogs for 72 hours, then take them to the local humane society. The official added that they will no longer accept dogs from out of state.