A proposed advisory board for the Athens County dog shelter would aim to improve spay-neuter program awareness, increase dog adoptions and reduce its euthanasia rate, county Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.

The advisory board would focus on efficiently managing the shelter and would not be concerned with security issues, such as the July 9 theft of euthanasia drugs, two firearms, a tranquilizer dart gun and a digital

camera, Eliason said. “The biggest danger (posed by the stolen drugs) is some fool who doesn’t know what he has and thinks it is something to get high on,” Athens County Sheriff Vern Castle said.

The Athens County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crime, but no arrests have been made.

The advisory board, which was proposed June 27 and is being reviewed by the commissioners, would be able to make recommendations for improvements and organize volunteers.

Commissioner Bill Theisen is against allowing the advisers to hire employees for the shelter. As employees of the county, shelter workers would receive benefits and other advantages not available if the hiring process was taken over by the advisers.

“We welcome them to the dog shelter as an advisory board but not as a supervisor,” Theisen said.

The board’s input will be more constructive if the county hires a full-time dog warden, Theisen said. The county dog shelter has not had a full-time dog warden for almost four years, but commissioners increased dog tag fees to pay a warden in the future. Lana Planisek, Athens city humane officer, acts as dog warden 15 hours per week.