OREGON — Dr. Thomas Champley recently retired from his position as Ogle County Animal Control administrator after 28 years of service. Champley was honored for his service since 1996 at the Ogle County Board’s Sept. 17 meeting. 

Champley said he felt honored to be recognized that night. As animal control administrator, he was tasked with supervising two full-time and two part-time employees in the animal control department and working with them on cases such as animal vaccination and stray animals in the country. Champley also ran Pines Meadow Veterinary Clinic in Oregon up until about five years ago. 

“It will be strange not doing it anymore,” Champley said. “But I'll have plenty of other things to occupy my time. I'll continue to stop in and say hi. It just felt like the right time. I'm 77 years old. It was time for someone else to take a turn at it.” 

Champley applied for the animal control administrator position in 1996 after one of the employees in the office asked him to after the previous administrator left. Champley finds it hard to believe that 28 years have gone by since. He liked working with the staff, so he kept doing it, 

“I think everyone in the department does a great job,” Champley said. “People don't really understand the importance of animal control. 60,000 people die of rabies in the world every year, but most of them are in third-world countries. About 10 or less die of it every year in the U.S. That number is 10 or less because of the work animal control does. We vaccinate dogs and we don't have stray dogs running around getting rabies. People don't realize how important it is until their dog has to be quarantined or their child gets bitten.”

One of the most satisfying parts of animal control work is helping to find homes for stray dogs through local animal shelters, Champley said. 

“It's very rare that county animal control euthanizes a stray dog,” Champley said. “I'm proud of that. Unfortunately a lot of the public thinks if animal control picks up a dog that it'll be put down. That just isn't the case. and we work very hard with the vet clinics in the area to make sure we find good homes for these dogs.”

Another misconception about animal control Champley wants to put to bed is that pet owners are made to buy tags just for the county to make money. 

“The money supports the department,” Champley said. “It's supported strictly by tag fees. We get no money out of the county budget at all. Our budget comes from tags. We don't make people vaccinate their dogs for the money. We're trying to make sure that we never have any rabies in people.”

Champley grew up on a farm and animals have always been a part of his life. But being in animal control and the veterinary field yields just as much interaction with people as it does with animals. 

“I always tell anyone interested in veterinary medicine, yes, it's important that you love animals, but it's more important that you like people,” Champley said. “Because you're going to have to deal with a lot of people. You're not just dealing with animals. It's people too. I think it's important to enjoy people too.”