Dear editor:

The Berrien County Animal Control 2012 newsletter is not very humane to local business these days.

We followed its referral, www.crittercatchersinc.com, for bat colony exclusions and instructions on how to remove bats. The website is a wildlife control company in Ortonville, Mich. I couldn’t remember Ortonville here in Berrien County, so we called to ask where they were from. “Over by Flint, Mich.,” she said.

Then we followed the “.org” website Berrien County offered its residents for help. We were not surprised to find out the “.org” site recommended Critter Catchers Inc. exclusively as Michigan bat professionals. The sad part is, Critter Catchers Inc. doesn’t service Berrien County bat work. The lady on the phone said she was supposed to recommend such and such company out of Plainwell.

We were very disappointed Berrien County Animal Control employees would disrespect its local Berrien County, DNR-licensed and insured wildlife control businesses and consign its residents to a company out of Ortonville, to be resold to a company out of Plainwell. We feel it’s ethically irresponsible to use a Berrien County public newsletter to endorse its out-of-county private business enterprise, or obtain “donations” by endorsements, referrals and leads.

A better choice of websites for information and local referrals would be www.batcon.org, the original Bats Conservation International site that others on the internet simulate. BCI pros are DNR-licensed and insured professional businesses. Being a BCI professional is a nationally recognized measure of competency. BCI’s website lists professional bat exclusion companies by state and city. BCI screens the bat control professionals for their professional state DNR licenses, insurance coverage and requires a signed BCI professional code of ethics contract before being listed.

There are hundreds of BCI professionals listed nationally and several locally. The berriencounty.org site offers but one single company, and they are what the internet has spawned — we call middle men. They might hire the job on the internet — in Ortonville — then resell it to the lowest bidder — uninsured beginners in Plainwell — or across the state or nation. The copycat conservation.org site listed by Berrien County Animal Control doesn’t offer the same BCI protection for its viewers. BCI does list a bat exclusion professional servicing the Ortonville, Mich., area, but it’s not Critter Catchers Inc.

We didn’t receive the Berrien County Animal Control newsletter, but had individuals email it to us concerned about the misuse of taxpayer dollars in printing the discriminatory newsletter. My wife was quick to correct them about who paid for the newsletter, pointing out that donations we gave the animal shelter last year probably covered the cost of the printing.

Sincerely,

Jim Sheffield
Michigan State Department of Natural Resources
Berrien County wildlife control operator
Niles