News : Shelter leaders discuss changes, challenges with supervisors

Shelter personnel deal with a variety of issues affecting strays, including health issues.

Recently, three large Rottweilers jumped through a window of a house in a city in Benton County.

In another of the county's smaller towns, the death of a woman left a dozen cats and a dog alone in a house, with nobody to care for them.

Almost every year, a pit bull -- although the animals are prohibited in the county -- ends up at the Vinton Animal Shelter.

In each of these situations, and many others that occur regularly, the animals become the concern of Julie Havran.

Havran, the director of the Vinton Animal Shelter, along with Friends of the Shelter, Inc. (FOTSI), member Donita Casey, spent nearly an hour on Tuesday discussing the future of the shelter, and the challenges they face with stray animals, with the Benton County supervisors.

Although the shelter has an agreement with Vinton and the county's animal control officer, most cities in the county do not have a similar contract, Havran told the supervisors. That makes it difficult, both in terms of the legal issues involved in handling stray animals, and in the cost of dealing with them, she said.

Havran said she has been working with city leaders, trying to get agreements in place similar to the one used in Vinton and the county's rural area. Because of two incidents in which a person was bitten, the shelter no longer accepts animals brought in by private citizens. In some cases, shelter personnel can help a family try to find a new home for a pet through other animal rescue groups or via its web site.

Not having the agreements with cities presents a financial burden, since without an agreement there is no way to ensure that the shelter is reimbursed for the expenses incurred in handling such situations. In one case, two elected city officials from one of the small towns in Benton County were involved in the handling of an animal that ended up in the shelter, but the city refused to pay, saying the two were acting as private citizens, not on behalf of the city.

"We are a business, even though we are a non-profit business," said Havran. "And no business offers its services for free."

Plans for the site; possible lease agreement

Although at one time, shelter activists were considering finding a new location for a newer, larger shelter, they have come to the consensus that it's best to leave the shelter where it is and add to it there. But in order to be eligible for many of the grant programs that assist animal shelters, the shelter's board must own or lease its property. Right now, there is no lease agreement between the county, which owns the shelter property, and FOTSI. The county did have a lease in the 1970s and 1980s with the Humane Society, which ran the shelter during those years.

Havran and Casey asked the supervisors if it is possible to enter into a similar lease arrangement between the county and FOTSI, to make that group eligible for grant funding. The supervisors approved of the idea and will discuss the legal aspects of it with the county attorney.

Click HERE to see the FOTSI web site.