County council allocated $249,000 in June 2025, to the long-neglected animal shelter for physical improvements such as surveillance cameras and other facility needs. There is no evidence that shelter management or the administration used those funds to better the conditions for the animals they are supposed to be caring for. And council has not seen to it that they have.
Instead, the animal shelter finished fiscal year 2024 under budget by $104,588 and by $97,687 in fiscal year 2025.
This 2026 fiscal year, the department is on track to be underspent by $187,000, according to the County’s February 2026 Budget by Organization report.
This administration has ignored it’s obligation to the shelter animals. And council has ignored clear financial flags to the detriment of the shelter animals and the entire county, and it has to stop.
The funded but unimplemented improvements for the animal shelter would have gone a long way in helping the county resolve its animal crisis. Cameras could have offered safety and protection for the animals as well as the staff.
Animal Control Department crises always prompt questions about department funding. However, the questions really should be about the department’s lack of spending for necessary improvements.
It’s long past time the administration and shelter management spend the $249,000 on improvements to the shelter as council intended, instead of covering up a crises of their own making. And it’s long past time for council to ask why that money has not been spent.
Hopefully a public outcry over the neglected animal shelter will cause administration to use the money to make improvements in an effort to make life better for the animals in the county’s care. And hopefully council will push them to do so.
Randy Bright
Ridgeway