FAYETTEVILLE — Sherlock found Watson.
William Belvin adopted Watson, a tiny kitten, last week to accompany his 1-year-old dog, Sherlock.
He and Anna Niemeyer, his friend, found plenty of cats at the Washington County animal shelter.
“It’s a great shelter,” Niemeyer said. “It’s so clean, and the animals are so well taken care of and well socialized. They’re so sweet.”
At A Glance
AT A GLANCE
The Washington County animal shelter provides monthly reports to the Quorum Court. Below are averages from the first four months of this year:
Animals on hand at the end of the month: 154
Brought in by county animal control: 72
Brought in by small cities: 22
Adoptions: 54
Transfers to other cities for adoption: 28
Euthanized: 24
Source: Staff Report
The pair called local shelters and learned the county shelter had the most cats, she said.
Shelter staff members hoped for more adoptions while they braced for the spring, when lots of puppies and kittens end up at the shelter, said Angela Ledgerwood, director.
The taxpayer cost to maintain the shelter is more than expected. The facility used more than half of its 2013 budget in the first four months of the year.
“It’s hard to tell with the new department because you don’t know what to expect with the load of animals and cost. I feel confident they will come back and ask for money, and it’s something we are watching,” Cheryl Bolinger, comptroller, recently told the county’s Finance and Budget Committee.
Cats and mostly dogs have filled the shelter to near capacity since it opened in September, Ledgerwood said. Dozens more animals are at local foster homes to free up space, Ledgerwood said.
The shelter has had an average of 154 animals in the first four months of this year, according to shelter data. County animal control officers bring in an average of 72 animals per month from rural areas in the county. Small cities, such as Farmington and West Fork, have brought in an average of 22 animals per month.
“It’s overwhelming, but it’s a good overwhelming,” said Ledgerwood. “You know at the end of the day you go home exhausted, but you know that you helped make a difference.”
Shelter officials have spent 52 percent of their $457,041 budget in actual transactions and planned expenses, such as the phone bill. The Fayetteville animal shelter has about an $800,000 budget paid by the city’s general fund, said Justine Lentz, Fayetteville animal services superintendent
County officials have said the budget is less because the county uses county inmates to perform tasks such as cleaning and walking dogs.
Hundreds of dogs and cats have eaten $5,811 in food out of the shelter’s $12,000 budget so far this year, according to a report from the comptroller’s office. County officials budgeted $750 for medicine and drugs and more than 10 times that has been spent. Officials have also spent $625 more than the $4,000 budgeted for “medical/dental/hospital.”
Ledgerwood said the shelter’s veterinarian and a technician spay and neuter every animal. All animals also get identification microchips implanted in case they get lost, she said. Each animal must be observed for at least five days and receives a slew of vaccinations.
Adoption fees and fees paid by small cities have brought in $21,772 out of the expected $40,000, according to a report from the county’s treasury. Cities pay a $85 fee to take animals to the shelter based off a contract with the county. Individuals pay $65 per dog and $45 per cat to adopt.
“This is not a part of the county (government) that’s going to break even,” Ledgerwood said. “I can’t imagine we would ever get there, unless we adopted every animal out the door within the first five days of it being here.”
Lentz said the city animal shelter doesn’t come close to bringing in enough revenue to offset its expenses.
The county’s Animal Concerns Advisory Committee, formed in the early 1990s, did the brunt of the planning to create the shelter in recent years with County Judge Marilyn Edward’s oversight.
“I’m happy I built it. I think it serves a tremendous need, and I think the people of the county are happy that I did it,” Edwards said. “When the budget was built, I think the budget was too small. I don’t think there was an actual true picture … I’m afraid we are going to be short on money.”
Quorum Court members seemed OK last week knowing they would be receiving more funding requests.
Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Spears, principal of Lincoln High School, said she would like county staff members to prepare financial reports about the shelter at the six-month mark.
“I am certainly living this in a brand new high school and our utility bills are about triple what we anticipated so I know how that is,” Spears said. The high school opened last fall.