Nonprofit says it will no longer run Jackson County animal shelter, citing finances
With four years still left on a five-year contract, Great Plains SPCA has put Jackson County on notice that it will cease operating the county-owned Regional Animal Shelter in July, citing financial concerns.
But the former county legislator most responsible for the shelter’s construction and selection of Great Plains to run it thinks the nonprofit could be convinced to stay on if the county and Independence boost their contributions to the shelter’s operating budget.
The county has “gotten these notices before,” said Dennis Waits, who stepped down from the legislature in December. “I don’t see any reason why they can’t pick up the phone and make this work.”
Whether that will happen is anyone’s guess at this point. Great Plains CEO Tam Singer declined to discuss whether her organization’s board of directors was in favor of renegotiating the county contract.
“I cannot comment on any of it until we hear back from Jackson County,” she said. “When we hear back from them, then we can comment more.”
Nor did county officials or the city of Independence, the shelter’s main customer, have much to say on the matter Thursday, other than they were hopeful they could keep the six-year-old shelter operating without interruption, regardless of who is running it.
“The City will continue working with Jackson County over the coming weeks and months to ensure a smooth transition forward for our residents,” Independence said in an unsigned statement.
County spokeswoman Marshanna Hester said the county was blindsided by Great Plains’ announcement on Wednesday, which came in the midst of three days of public budget hearings that will inform the county legislature’s spending plan for 2019.
The Merriam-based animal welfare group sent out an email that afternoon that said “in order to safeguard the future of our organization, Great Plains SPCA has notified Jackson County today of our intent to end our operation and management of the Jackson County Regional Animal Shelter.”
The statement signed by Singer and board chairman Chuck Laue said Great Plains would also be ending public veterinary care services at its veterinary clinic in Merriam.
“While these are difficult decisions to make that also impact our staff, as stewards of our donors’ dollars, it is necessary for us to take these steps to better our financial situation and allow us to continue operating our shelter in Merriam along with our other community outreach programs.”
Great Plains did not explain what financial issues drove the decision or how many of its employees would be affected. A staff of 116 was employed at the three locations at the time Great Plains submitted its successful bid to run the Regional Animal Shelter in Independence through the end of 2022.
Under that contract, Great Plains is guaranteed about $550,000 a year to house strays and pets given up by their owners within the city of Independence. The county writes the checks, but Independence provides the cash for those payments under a contract with the county.
County taxpayers also cover utility costs, up to $130,000 annually.
The legislature also gave Great Plains $230,000 last year to help with other operating costs at the facility, which cares for stray animals picked up in rural areas of the county. Another $150,000 in tax dollars went toward a program that educates and assists pet owners with limited means to care for their pets, as well as a spay and neuter feral cats.
On Thursday, Singer appeared before the legislature to ask for continuation of those payments this year on a pro-rata basis through July, rather than the full year. The few minutes set aside for her pitch were on the schedule long before Great Plains’ decision to pull out of the agreement, so there was no time in the tight hearing schedule for her to go into detail about the reasons for the decision.
But in summary, she said: “It’s not fiscally prudent for us to run the shelter...We’re very sad about this decision.”
Great Plains was chosen to run the $5 million facility when it opened in 2013 at 21001 E. Missouri 78.
Independence, which owns the six acres that the shelter sits on, opposed the choice because originally the city was going to run it for the county. City administrators signed a 2009 memorandum of understanding setting out the parameters. One aim of building the shelter was to replace the small decrepit municipal shelter Independence operated at the time.
At 27,000-plus square feet, the Regional Animal Shelter was then second in size only to Wayside Waifs’ south Kansas City headquarters, with room at any one time for 125 cats and 100 dogs. (The planned new Kansas City animal shelter will be bigger.)
But Waits lobbied in favor of giving Great Plains the contract after becoming concerned that Independence would not budget enough money to operate it as the “no kill” shelter he intended it would be.
Great Plains, on the other hand, had a track record of being fully committed to the principles guiding “no kill” shelters, meaning that less than 10 percent of the animals taken in are euthanized.
That method of operation can lead to higher costs, however, depending on how many animals are brought in off the street or relinquished by their owners. For a time, the shelter was overrun with cats, which hurt the bottom line and created tensions when some cats were turned away.
In negotiating the current contract, Great Plains complained of the financial hardships it suffered due to Independence’s ban on pit bulls. Where other types of dogs were adopted or returned to their owners within 21 days of arrival at the shelter on average, 198 days was the average for pit bulls, Great Plains said.
That limited the number of paying adoptions at a cost to Great Plains of $137,214 in 2017, the agency said.
With that ban still in place, 15 to 20 percent of the dogs there fit the city’s broad definition of pit bull, Singer said.
This story was originally published January 17, 2019 at 5:45 PM.
