ASPCI to vacate; what’s next?

Published 2:30 pm Thursday, July 30, 2015

First, let’s go ahead and get the big question out of the way. The City of Pell City’s assumption of animal control services in St. Clair County will not result in mass execution at the shelter.

“It’s really ludicrous,” City Manager Brian Muenger said. “That was the immediate question I began to be asked. What happens is we continue to feed them, get their records and try to adopt the animals. There’s just no benefit to starting off with something that ridiculous.”

As the City begins to design and implement its new animal control operation, one that looks likely to take over impoundment services for much of the county, Muenger said his focus now is on finding a fiscally responsible means of providing for its requirements under state law as well as facilitating live release.

And there is no certainty at this point of whether that includes the exiting Animal Shelter of Pell City, Inc (ASPCI).

With this week’s decision by the Pell City City Council to terminate its contract with ASPCI, officially made on July 27, the City is now in a 60-day window to either find a new provider to perform impoundment services or perform the operation itself. It has chosen the latter for the immediate future, and Muenger said the Council would soon see a tentative operations plan.

This means ASPCI’s 15 years of operation in its facility on Airport Road will come to a close. The organization will vacate the building, which is owned by the City, and will apparently seek to continue operations from a new location.

According to a release sent after the Council’s decision, ASPCI will continue as a non-profit organization, though its “mission may change to a different area of animal welfare.” ASPCI’s, Board of Directors, the release states, will review its options, some it heard during a meeting on July 29 with Muenger.

“I expressed to them I feel strongly that there is a space in the community for both a City-run animal control facility and a partner in the outreach area,” Muenger said of his meeting with board members. “We would be open to working with ASPCI or any shelter placement group.”

He said at this time there is no concrete offer on the table for ASPCI to partner in the new, City-run service and that the organization would not be permitted to share the facility with the City. Muenger said ASPCI was now in a position to present new proposals.

“I’ll listen,” he said.

ASPCI Board President Barbara Wallace released a statement in the evening on July 29. It reads as follows:

“ASPCI met with the City Manager of Pell City today. Primarily, transition plans for the impoundment services were discussed. It’s our understanding that Pell City plans to manage the impoundment service for the city, county and other municipalities.

“ASPCI will continue to operate as a non-profit corporation. While ASPCI will not be doing impoundment; our focus will remain in the area of animal welfare. 

“Our increased live release rate from 11.3% in year 2001, our 1^st full year of operation, to 37.5% would not have been possible without the generosity of individual and corporate supporters within the community, as well as national animal welfare organizations. This funding was vital in our being able to provide the programs essential to improving the live release rate.”

Muenger said prior to the meeting, he went to the facility to meet with its employees and answer questions about the transition. The new operation has been proposed to have only three full-time staff members, while the ASPCI currently has five. It would also include four part-time employees and use additional labor from people seeking to work off municipal fines and possibly inmate labor from St. Clair County corrections facilities.

Muenger also said he gave each employee present at the shelter an application for City employment.

“The current staff are excellent candidates for these positions, but it will be something we open up to the public,” he said.

Muenger added that he valued the staff’s connections in the adoption, rescue and volunteer communities and urged ASPCI to facilitate contact, if not relationships, in those areas.

“It’s something I know they’ve worked a long time to develop, and I want to try our best to take advantage and continue those practices,” he said.

The transition from ASPCI’s operation to the City’s is slated to take place on Sept. 30, but Muenger said he has proposed the City step in on Sept. 16 — the day ASPCI’s contract states it will stop accepting animals from the public. He said he also proposed financial considerations for the assets within the facility ASPCI purchased during its tenure.

In the coming weeks, the Council will likely see a complete version of the operations plan for Pell City’s animal control services, about which Muenger said ASPCI has expressed its doubts. However, at this point it appears the only way the organization can continue any mission from that facility is by running an operation completely separate from the City’s and offering its support.

“The service we proposed is not a replacement for ASPCI, but it’s not expressively dissimilar,” Muenger said. “My goal is to transfer animals into adoptable homes, organizations that work to place the animals or to effectively facilitate their adoption.”