Washington County animal shelter request stokes concerns before meeting

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK A chihuahua and dachshund mix looks out from through the kennel walls Wednesday at the Lester C. Howick Animal Shelter of Washington County in Fayetteville in a 2015 file photo.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK A chihuahua and dachshund mix looks out from through the kennel walls Wednesday at the Lester C. Howick Animal Shelter of Washington County in Fayetteville in a 2015 file photo.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Warnings that the county animal shelter can't accept any more animals this year without more money have struck a nerve in the county, officials said Wednesday, but some believe the worries are overblown.

The Quorum Court is set to take its second look at a spending request from the shelter for $10,500 to cover cleaning supplies, spay and neuter procedures and other expenses. A smaller request from the University of Arkansas cooperative agriculture extension office also is up for reconsideration.

Meeting information

Washington County Quorum Court

When: 5:30 p.m. today

Where: Quorum Courtroom in the County Courthouse, 280 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville

Money requests such as these need a two-thirds majority to pass on the first vote, a bar neither request cleared during the Quorum Court meeting last week. But they can pass with a simple majority if they're brought up for second and third readings. County Judge Marilyn Edwards called today's special Quorum Court meeting and another next week to give them that chance.

The animal shelter is out of money for the supplies and other needs, officials in Edwards' administration have said. They warned it will soon need to stop accepting stray and unwanted cats and dogs from county residents and rural towns to stay within its $616,000 budget.

"The amount of $10,500 being discussed will carry the shelter for approximately two months, at which time I will return to ask for additional funding," Angela Ledgerwood, the shelter's director, wrote in a letter to the Quorum Court laying out her reasoning for the request and cost-saving measures she has taken.

About 130 animals were in the shelter Wednesday, fewer than usual, because of a recent adoption event, said Chief of Staff George Butler. The shelter directed questions to him. No animals had been turned away yet, Butler said.

Department heads can transfer money between line items when needed, but Butler said Ledgerwood couldn't use that tactic any longer without cutting into other needs.

Amy Smith, vice president of the Humane Society of the Ozarks, waded into the dispute last weekend with a post on the organization's website declaring "the impact could spread to other local shelters and the community as a whole."

Curtailing county shelter services could lead to an overflow at Fayetteville and Springdale's shelters and would abandon towns without shelters, Smith wrote, urging readers to contact their elected county officials.

Sally Baker-Williams, the Humane Society's director of programs, said Wednesday the county shelter helped lower the area's euthanasia rates and tackle the stray animal issue.

"The problem isn't going to go away just because you don't have that shelter running at full capacity," she said. "We try to avoid political issues, but we don't really consider this a political partisan issue as much as we consider it an animal welfare issue that affects all residents in Washington County."

Calls and emails from residents on the topic have been flowing in, several Quorum Court members said Wednesday.

Eva Madison, a Democrat from District 9 in Fayetteville who voted against the shelter request, said she supported the shelter's mission but didn't think the consequences of denying the request would be as dire as claimed.

"Somebody has set out to panic and alarm animal lovers with misinformation," Madison said.

The shelter has legitimate financial concerns, but "I don't think that any of the concerns about turning away animals are valid," she said.

The shelter's budget this year is 5 percent lower than last, a smaller cut than the Humane Society post claimed.

The Humane Society board planned to discuss the post during a meeting Wednesday evening, president Hermine Wilkins wrote in an email, declining to comment further until after the meeting.

Fayetteville and Springdale's shelter services are restricted to city residents, leaving the decision's impact on them unclear or minimal, officials said.

"We don't anticipate that it will have an effect on our animal services," said Susan Norton, Fayetteville spokeswoman. "We'll just follow our same procedures."

Madison said she was taking Ledgerwood's letter to heart and would come to the meeting with an open mind. But the county is still trying to rebuild its reserve for emergencies and large projects, she said. Rebuilding a reserve that has fallen in recent years was the rationale for last year's $4 million in cuts for this year's $59 million budget, and requests such as the shelter's chip away at that reserve.

"It's a tough spot," Madison said. "The animal lover in me would love to give the shelter a bunch more money, but that wouldn't be fulfilling my responsibility as a steward of tax dollars."

Butch Pond, a Republican representing rural District 15, supported the request and said Wednesday the dispute showed budget cuts have consequences.

"It (the shelter) is costing more to operate and do all those programs than what I imagined it would. I'd like to see it cost less money," Pond said. "But you can't keep those animals in there without cleaning up after them. You can't cut corners on sanitizing the place."

"We built the shelter," he added. "We're going to have to support it."

NW News on 07/23/2015

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