IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County is buying a pet microchip scanner for animal control after agreeing to pay a $4,500 settlement for a lost cat that was neutered before the owner came forward.

The Bengal cat was used for stud service, which accounts for the substantial settlement, County Controller Brian Bousley said.

Animal control had gone without a scanner, some priced at about $200, before recognizing the need, he said.

A microchip can be placed underneath a cat’s skin by a veterinarian to provide a form of identification. If the cat is lost, and has no collar ID, a scanner can show information on ownership.

Having no ready identification, the Bengal was taken by animal control to Almost Home Animal Shelter in Quinnesec. All animals adopted from shelters in Michigan are required to be sterilized, leading to the errant neutering.

The county board authorized the payment to the cat’s owner at an April 4 parks meeting, contingent on a record of stud fees and other verification.

The county’s part-time animal control officer works in the sheriff’s department, but is under supervision of the county, Bousley said.

In other news:

— Commissioners learned at the parks meeting that Lake Antoine Park’s updated water system should be ready for the opening of camping season. The pumphouse will be named Harry Kleiman Well, in memory of the late businessman whose Kleiman Pump & Well Drilling in 1999 built the exploratory well that will now serve as the water source. The campground was closed all of last season due to leaking pipes.

— Coleman Engineering Co. of Iron Mountain will be contacted to inspect the Lake Antoine boat launch, which heaved up over the winter. This has been a persistent problem, as ice pressure damaged the launch in early 2018, crumbling portions of the cement base. Aided by a Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant, it was replaced in late 2020 at a cost of about $90,000.

— Construction of a new bathhouse at Lake Antoine is under review, with potential groundbreaking in 2023. Cost is estimated at $250,000 to $300,000. Funding may come from county’s $4.9 million federal American Rescue Plan allocation.

— Two plots are being purchased at Breitung Township Cemetery to inter both the unclaimed remains of Dickinson County veterans and unclaimed cremated remains in the care of the county clerk. The $4,800 cost will be split between the county and its Office of Veterans Affairs.

— A proposal for aerial photographs used in conjunction with county-wide geographic information system mapping has been received and will be discussed at the county’s finance meeting tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. April 21.

April 14 update: ‘Stud’ cat neutered without

Quinnesec animal shelter’s knowledge, manager clarifies

IRON MOUNTAIN — A lost Bengal cat that was errantly neutered in Dickinson County, leading to a $4,500 settlement by the county, was sterilized before being brought to Almost Home Animal Shelter in Quinnesec, the shelter’s manager clarified Thursday.

The owner of the cat claims it was used for stud service. A tentative settlement was approved by the county board earlier this month.

The shelter was not involved in having the cat neutered, shelter manager Diane Luczak said.

Under its policy, an animal received from the county’s animal control service is held for five days before being brought to a veterinarian for sterilization, Luczak said. In this case, however, the officer first took the cat to a veterinarian.

The cat reportedly had been missing for two months, Luczak added, though no report from the owner had been filed with the shelter. Some information was on Facebook, but Luczak said it wasn’t through channels the shelter normally checks.

The Bengal has a tiny computerized chip implanted for identification, but animal control didn’t have a microchip scanner and was unable to determine the owner.

The shelter does have a scanner, Luczak said, and animal control is now getting one as well.

“In my 32 years (with the shelter), this has never happened,” Luczak added.

The county board authorized payment to the cat’s owner at an April 4 parks meeting, contingent on a record of stud fees and other verification.

The county’s part-time animal control officer works in the sheriff’s department, but is under supervision of the county, said Controller Brian Bousley.

All animals adopted from shelters in Michigan are required to be sterilized.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500 ext. 226 or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.