Kenai city manager Rick Koch and chief animal control officer Cora Chambers presented data about the city’s animal shelter to the council and members of the public during a council meeting on Feb. 4.
The presentation was in response to a letter to the council from Judy Fandrei, Ellen Sheehan, and Amanda Motonaga of the non-profit Peninsula Spay and Neuter Fund regarding “impact of changes made at the Kenai Animal Shelter.” Changes addressed in the letter included those which the authors believed would have a positive impact on the shelter’s service, such as the spaying or neutering and microchipping of adopted animals, and purported negative changes such as closure of the shelter’s outdoor drop-off cages and its 32 hour-per-week operating schedule, both of which the authors said made the shelter’s services less accessible to the public.
In a slideshow presentation, Chambers and Koch presented the city’s data on animal shelter activity, noting that the percentage of adoptions from the number of live animals taken in had increased from 54 percent in 2011 to 86 percent in 2014. The presenters said that the closure of the drop-off cages was in accordance with the Association of Shelter Veterinarian’s 2010 Standards of Care in Animal Shelters, and that “neither the City Manager, Chief of Police, or Chief Animal Control Officer has received any contact from the public regarding the weekly hours of operation” since they were reduced from 40 in January 2014.
Reach Ben Boettger at ben.boettger@peninsulaclarion.com.
