Kane County reluctantly pushes reset button on Animal Control Dept.

The surprise resignation of the woman Kane County thought would be the savior of its animal control department has some county board members dreading the idea of picking up the pieces.

“This department has been nothing but a headache,” county board member T.R. Smith said Friday. “My constituents are saying it’s nothing but a rat hole that we’re pouring money into. We can’t just close it up and subcontract it to Anderson Animal Shelter?”

The answer is no, said fellow board member Bonnie Kunkel. The county is obligated to provide the services the animal control department offers now that it is up and running.

Smith and Kunkel are among a handful of board members now charged with finding both a temporary and a permanent replacement for Kimberly Rudloff, the first veterinarian/administrator to run the department. She lasted only a few months on the job.

County officials said Rudloff gave no reason for quitting. Indeed, animal control employees interviewed Friday said they also had no idea Rudloff was considering resigning.

The employees are hoping they have more input into the selection of the next director. Employees said they did spend about six hours with some of the last group of candidates during the process that ultimately resulted in Rudloff’s hiring.

However, Rudloff was not one of the two finalists the employees thought were best suited to turning around the department. The names of those two finalists never actually reached county board members before they made a selection, Kunkel said.

Kunkel’s team will use the applications from the last search and open the process to new resumes in looking for a permanent replacement for Rudloff.

Meanwhile, an interim director will take over for Rudloff to run the department. Kunkel said she does not believe the interim director will come from within the current roster of county employees.

Both the permanent and interim hiring process will have an additional layer of limbo this time around. Rudloff’s direct supervisor, health department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert, has also resigned.

Kuehnert’s last day working for the county was Friday. The search for his replacement won’t begin until after the November general election.