City Council approves increase in funding for pound

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, April 14, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

Less than a month after an auditor revealed management flaws at the Las Vegas city pound, the City Council agreed Monday to increase the shelter's funding by $9,000 a month.

Council members also allowed Animal Foundation International -- which has a contract with the city -- to keep licensing, impounding and boarding fees to make up for budgetary shortfalls.

"I think it was a vote of confidence," Animal Foundation President Mary Herro said of the one-year increase. "They were happy to fund us until we can review it at the end of the year."

An unexpected load of animals hauled into the facility put a burden on the pound's finances. When the foundation was awarded the 10-year contract three years ago, it expected about 10,000 animals a year.

Herro said in 1996, the pound housed 17,000 animals and last year it took in 19,000 abandoned or lost pets.

Despite the city's additional funding, the amount of money the pound is able to spend on each pet is significantly less than the national average for animal shelters, Herro said.

When the pound's new annual budget is applied to the number of animals it houses, it amounts to about $34 per pet. The Dewey Animal Care Center, which runs the county facility, spends about $70 per animal and the national average is about $55 per animal, according to a foundation report.

"We're not asking for huge amounts of money, we just need to catch up," Herro said. "Our budget was not equipped to handle this number of animals."

Las Vegas city staff recommended the increased funding because of the number of animals brought in by owners or picked up on the streets.

"As a result of the substantial increase in the number of animals, AFI's (the foundation) financial ability to provide its current level of quality service is threatened unless it receives additional resources to offset the increased demand," Detention and Enforcement Director Michael Sheldon wrote in his report.

A March audit dinged the pound for financial problems, like not collecting fees and offering too many adoption incentives, but overall, the shelter has had a positive impact on the city.

Since the foundation took over the operation of the pound in 1995, its euthanasia rate decreased from 52 percent to 33 percent, according to Herro. Meanwhile, the number of adoptions jumped from 14 percent to 43 percent.

Herro said with its tight budget, the foundation had to choose between assigning staff to bookkeeping duties and putting them on the streets to find homes for animals.

"The city saw that we needed to run a balanced operation," Herro said.

Herro said being able to hold onto license fees benefits the pound nearly as much as the added city funding.

The pound offers a program in which it returns stray animals to their home rather than taking them to the shelter if the pet owner purchased the pet's license from the foundation.

Herro said the "Take It Home" program not only reduces the number of animals housed at the shelter, but encourages pet owners to buy licenses from the pound.

The added income will go toward the pound's program and a planned $4.5 million shelter.