Borough can't fund new animal shelter

April 8, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Dave Allison envisions an animal shelter that is a happy place to go - where adoptions are effectively promoted, where sick dogs are separated from healthy canines, where the cats can't hear barking dogs, where the ventilation system is adequate to keep disease from spreading and where members of the public might want to spend their afternoon visiting animals and hanging out.

The only way to achieve this dream would be to get enough funding - approximately $2 million - $5 million - to build a new, more mission-appropriate facility. Renovating the building, which was built in the mid-1980s, wouldn't solve some of the animal-related problems, and would leave the shelter with even less space to house adoptable pets. There haven't been any expansions to the shelter, except for adding on a storage room.

Borough Assembly members are aware of the problems facing the animal shelter, but the borough doesn't have the funding to provide Allison with a new shelter. Constructing a building to replace the old structure would most likely have to be funded by a bond package, and would only happen if Valley voters believed in the importance of the project, according to Allison, who is chief of Animal Care and Regulation for the borough.

The current Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation shelter is in sad shape, with such poor ventilation that twice in the past two years, the entire population of dogs was euthanized; twice, all the cats in the building had to be put down, Allison said.

"You hire people who have the best interest of animals in mind. It hurts when we had to kill those animals we love in the interest of public health. But we couldn't risk spreading the diseases to new intakes," Allison said.

One of the times, a dog that was brought into the shelter had kennel cough. At first, the staff didn't know the dog had kennel cough, which, with time and medicine, is a curable disease. Even when dogs are quarantined, the poor ventilation allows diseases to go airborne. The end result is even more sick animals.

The center receives animals in such high numbers that the facility's space can't handle the influx, Allison said.

For example, during the last calendar year, the center received a total of 3,557 animals - 1,688 adult dogs, 336 puppies, 919 adult cats, 534 kittens, two ferrets and 78 other creatures.

"Imagine that when we have only 60 dog kennels," he said. "Sometimes, we have to turn animals away because the facility is full. Then we find [the animals] dead along the road or in the landfill."

Besides maintaining the basic operating budget, Allison would like to see more funding for a new facility that would transform the current animal jail into a shelter where animals are protected instead of exposed to illness and stress.

The borough Animal Care & Regulation Board turned in its proposed 2006 annual budget to the borough Assembly during a work session Thursday.

In addition, it provided the Assembly with a list of concerns related to the current shelter.

Constructing the new shelter, or improving the existing shelter, is not in the operating budget, explained Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy.

"The animal care advisory board as a whole and the Assembly members are seeking solutions," Allison said. "It is not being swept under the rug."

Duffy said funding for the shelter would be generated by a bond package, and therefore, would be subject to voter approval. "It will take the community being involved to potentially fund a new facility," Allison said.

Unfortunately, the Mat-Su shelter has a bad image in the eyes of many citizens - a stereotype Allison would like to change.

"I want to eliminate the 'This is a dog jail' thinking," Allison said, adding that it's difficult to do with a building in such disrepair that it not only jeopardizes the animals' health but keeps the staff from performing basic tasks that promote the well-being of the animals and their owners, or future owners.

The existing facility's biggest issue is poor ventilation, which not only spreads illnesses, it also makes it difficult to regulate heating and cooling - the staff had to cut a hole in the internal wall to thaw frozen pipes this winter.

The wall are shifting and separating. The floors are cracking and peeling, which causes problems when cleaning the floors. Power panels are maxed out; the shelter is pushing more than 90 percent of its available electrical load.

"Basically, we have to unplug stuff or shut off stuff to turn other things on," Allison said. The current facility also has only one exam table, which is used for euthanizing animals, giving animals shots, treating animals and even holding meetings. When other animals need shots or other care while the one exam table is in use, they have to lay on the floor.

"We need a private place for euthanizing personal pets - a new building would provide that," he said. "Essentially, they're losing a part of the family, but right now, we can't give them comfort and privacy. They're standing in a long line that might include an angry customer picking up a pet that didn't have tags and a happy customer who is adopting a pet. And here's someone who's grieving over the loss of the pet. It's an incredible emotional roller coaster when dealing with animals, and we don't have the facility to make that smoother."

One person who knows about that roller coaster

of emotions stemming from losing a pet is Barbara Dinneen, once a certified handler with the American Kennel Club, who adopted

an older dog from the

shelter.

"I went through an absolutely heartbreaking experience," she said, explaining that she brought home a dog the day before it was scheduled to be euthanized.

"Her fur was so matted that she couldn't go to the bathroom. I spent over two hours putting warm, damp rags on her bottom and clipping her fur. Finally, she went a little bit, but her body was so full of toxins that she died," Dinneen said.

"The Mat-Su animal control needs to be held accountable for their behavior. It was absolutely unforgivable," she said, adding that her dog's lack of care wasn't a result of poor facilities, but irresponsibility on the part of the staff.

"My dog was there for about 11 days and no one noticed she hadn't gone to the bathroom," she said.

"The animal control in the Valley says: 'We need this and we need that,'" said Dinneen, "but Houston Animal Control does a better job with less funding."

Right now, it costs $100,000 to maintain the existing building. Allison says he knows that much money could be spent on one year's worth of payments on a new building.

"We're the home of the Iditarod. We have sled-dog communities. We have the best equestrian programs even on down the line, goat championships and reindeer farms.

"We need a true animal shelter where the community prides itself on sheltering animals," Allison said.