Ogle County Board recognizes Champley for 28 years of animal control service

OREGON – After almost 28 years as the Ogle County Animal Control administrator, Dr. Tom Champley has retired.

Ogle County Board members on Tuesday recognized Champley for his work since his hiring Nov. 19, 1996. The position was part time.

“I do appreciate the support I’ve had over the years, and I enjoyed the job,” Champley said.

During his time with the Animal Control Department, Champley was “a steadfast administrator committed to prompting and preserving the love and care of animals” and the county’s regional values, Ogle County Board Chairman John Finfrock said, reading from a resolution honoring Champley.

“Tom Champley’s unwavering vision and community commitment will provide a lasting legacy,” Finfrock read.

County Board member Tom Smith thanked Champley for his work and the staff he put in place.

“They’re the front door, the back door and you put them there,” Smith said.

The Ogle County Animal Control Department employs two full-time staff members, one part-time person and one or two weekend assistants, Champley said in an interview Wednesday.

“I’ve had some great staff over all the years, and it makes the job very enjoyable and much easier when you have good people working for you,” he said.

Champley said he requested that there not be a retirement party, but the staff surprised him with one a couple of weeks ago anyway.

Animal Control and the work they do sometimes gets taken for granted, Champley said.

More than 60,000 people die worldwide from rabies each year, he said. Typically, less than 10 of those are in the U.S, but it still is a “mind-boggling” number, Champley said.

“Sometimes people think we’re being really dramatic when we make people confine their dog when they’ve bit someone, but we never, ever want one to fall through the cracks where somebody got rabies because we didn’t do our job,” he said.

For many years, Champley owned Pines Meadow Veterinary Clinic in Oregon, where he worked since graduating from the University of Illinois with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1971.

He sold the clinic about seven years ago and retired fully a year after that.

Tuesday’s recognition meant a lot, Champley said.

“You do something – even though it was part time – for that long, it was very nice they recognized me,” he said.