From wild dogs to feral cats, Kansas City’s animal control operation needs an overhaul

The Kansas City auditor’s office has released a study critical of the city’s Animal Health and Public Safety Division, the group responsible for enforcing animal control ordinances.

Animal control officers don’t consistently apply city codes to violators, the audit found. Some cruelty and animal neglect complaints go unresolved for weeks or months. A focus on enforcement, rather than education, creates a cycle of animal abuse among irresponsible pet owners.

The report is troubling. And its recommendations deserve serious attention from city staff and the City Council.

We say this with a full understanding of, and appreciation for, how tough it can be to work in animal control. The tasks can be nasty, dangerous and thankless. The turnover rate is 35 percent.

Officers must respond to wild animal calls, bites, injuries to animals, cruelty and abandonment. Thousands of feral cats and wild dogs plague neighborhoods, threatening safety and comfort.

The division gets more than 40 calls for service each day, and yet at the end of August, there were just 10 officers in field operations.

Often, they find pet owners who are uncooperative and abusive. Sometimes police officers must get involved.

Most Kansas Citians see quality animal control as a basic city service. But just 41 percent of citizens surveyed said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the city’s enforcement of its animal code.

That may be because animal control officers often focus more on impoundment and ticket-writing than problem-solving, the auditors found. The study says animal control officers have had a quota since 2012: 25 citations a month.

And too often, auditors found, officers see impoundment as the first option in neglect cases.

Code enforcement also seems erratic. From May 2016 to March 2017, one officer wrote 109 citations.

Another wrote 554.

Managers should figure out if aggressive ticket-writers “could use a lower level of enforcement, like education, that would be just as effective,” auditors said.

The study also says there is unnecessary tension between the animal control division and the private group that operates the shelter. It urges stakeholders to “create a shared vision for animal care and control.”

We agree. To his credit, the head of Neighborhood and Housing Services, John Wood, told auditors he agreed with 17 recommendations contained in the audit, including improved training and a focus on education. That’s a good start.

Adding more officers, and paying them more, would help, too.

Don’t let pet owners off the hook here. Far too many Kansas Citians leave their cats and dogs unlicensed, costing the city needed revenue to control the animal population. It costs just $12 to register an animal for a year.

Two out of every three animals seized after cruelty and neglect citations are never claimed by their owners, more evidence of irresponsibility.

Far too many pet owners abuse their animals or allow them to roam freely in neighborhoods. That behavior must stop.

Kansas City, like most cities, has wrestled with its animal control responsibilities for years. The new audit creates a good framework for improvements, and City Hall should follow its advice.

This story was originally published October 8, 2017 at 3:30 AM with the headline "From wild dogs to feral cats, Kansas City’s animal control operation needs an overhaul."