8. Discussion on Animal Control and Animal Shelter agreements
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: February 7, 2018
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: Animal Control and Animal Shelter
Background: In January the City received notice from Hillcrest Animal Hospital that they are
giving the City 60-day notice that they will no longer be offering animal impound services after
February 28, 2018. Sherrill referred the 8 cities that she provides animal control services to
Brittany Harmon of Companion Animal Control. Sherrill will resign once the cities have signed
contracts with Companion. Companion currently provides services for Forest Lake and Hugo .
Brittany Harmon submitted an agreement for animal control services throu gh her business
“Companion Animal Control” and an animal impound contract is through “Otter Lake Animal
Care Center” located in Hugo, MN. Brittany notes the with the scheduled February 28th end of
impound contracting at Hillcrest Animal Hospital, Otter Lake Animal Care Center has received
an overwhelming request from cities for impound contracts. And with the recent decision of
Sherrill Reed to end her animal control services I’ve been requested to contract with several
additional cities. Otter Lake Animal Care Center and I have worked together since 2013 to
jointly provide cities with animal control and impounding services with the highest priority of
animal welfare and live animal outcomes. Therefore, Otter Lake has agreed to accept only a
select few contracts--one of them being with your city-- on the condition that the animal
control contract is with Companion Animal Control to ensure a seamless increase in the
population of animals entering the impound.
All of the neighboring communities in Washington County either currently use Companion or
Sherrill Reid. The neighboring communities in Chisago County use Lakes Ares Police for animal
control and Northwoods Humane Society in Wyoming as a shelter. I have initiated contact with
them regarding the potential to contract for animal impound services; however, no other
animal control companies have been identified.
On February 1 Sherrill Reid called to inform us that she has been in contact with Northwoods
and they will accept animals that have been picked up from Scandia. Based on a location that
will accept animals, Sherrill will continue to provide animal control services to Scandia.
Northwood does not have a contract at this time and hopefully there will be a contract in place
for review and approval at the February 20, 2018 Council meeting
Issue: Should the City enter into agreement with Companion Animal Control and Otter Lake
Animal Care Center?
Fiscal Impact: The agreement with Sherrill Reid called for a $90 charge for each animal picked up
and taken to the shelter. Over the past 5 years there have been an average of 13 dogs picked up
each year. The City has a $100 impound fee charge; however, a portion of the charges collected are
used to pay the charges for services at Hillcrest. The cost to the City has averaged $750 / year over
the past 5 years.
The proposed Companion agreement calls for a $300 monthly retainer, call charges that average
$135 / dog depending on the time of day, and a mileage charge. Using the previous 5-year history,
the cost of services would increase from $90 / dog picked up to $420 / dog. The cost can be offset
by increasing the impound fee charged.
Options:
1. Enter into an animal control agreement with Companion Animal Control and an animal
impound contract with Otter Lake Animal Care Center.
2. Increase the fee for animal impound from $100 to an amount that covers or reasonably
cover the City cost
3. Seek an animal impound contract with Northwoods Humane Society
4. Solicit proposals for animal control services
5. Utilize City staff for animal control services after appropriate training either as primary
provider or in a back-up role