The City of Tooele has been at the forefront of animal welfare in Utah and across the country with a nearly 90% save rate since 2020. That means almost 90% of all dogs and cats coming into the shelter are leaving alive. This didn’t just happen. It was achieved through the hard work of a dedicated staff by implementing lifesaving programs and policies in the shelter, working collaboratively with rescue organizations and engaging with the community.
On Dec. 12, the city stated that, going forward, the shelter will only accept dogs and cats that come into the shelter via a police officer or an animal control officer. Judging from the reaction of community members, the decision appears to have been made without prior collaboration and communication with the public, and it devalues the lives of community pets.
In their announcement, the city referenced how this change would make public safety a priority. However, city leadership did not publicly cite any concerns, nor have they shared any data regarding public safety that would warrant the changes. At face value, the decision appears to be lacking insight into the community’s needs.
A humane community is a safe community, and the people of Tooele are justifiably proud to live in a place that values the lives of all family members, including pets. That is why we are asking city leaders to press pause on their recent decision to no longer operate a no-kill animal shelter. It’s not too late to take a step back and rethink this decision and avoid dismantling the hard work of so many and the accomplishment of the entire community.
Rather than accepting at-risk dogs and cats from the community, the city’s announcement encourages the public to reach out to local rescue groups and non-profit organizations for assistance. The rescue organizations that were working closely with the animal shelter are already stretched thin, doing a lot with a little. Most are without a brick-and-mortar facility and had zero input or consultation on the implementation of the change being made.
In a successful no-kill community that prioritizes public safety and humane animal care, community members, animal welfare nonprofits and the city government are all key players. They collaborate together to leverage each other’s resources and operating models to help prevent pet surrender, to save lives of pets entering the shelter and to combat cruelty and other public safety issues. No one entity can be asked to carry the entire burden but rather, it requires the type of collaboration and cooperation that has served the community so well to the present. Implicitly encouraging pet abandonment as the only doorway to the shelter via the police makes no sense and puts another item on the plate of Tooele police when they presumably have more important things to do.
City leaders also reference being at capacity as a contributor to the decision to close the shelter to the public. This is something that could be addressed by incremental enhancement of the policies and procedures. There is plenty of local support for the animal shelter in bolstering critical programs. That is why it is so important to communicate with and include stakeholders on a decision that, if not paused and rethought, will have unintended negative consequences for the city.
By making this abrupt management and operations change, without communication or planning with the organizations that the city expects to step into the self-created void, gives the appearance that city leadership has turned its back on the community that helped create and support a lifesaving animal shelter operation.
There is a strong tie between lifesaving animal services, community wellbeing and public safety. Dismantling a system of operation that took years to create will cost innocent lives and cannot easily be undone. Nothing in this plan will create a safer community for the residents of Tooele.
Best Friends Animal Society is asking that Tooele’s leadership press pause on the changes and gather stakeholders and leadership together to take another look at what can be done to ensure that neither life saving animal sheltering nor public safety are compromised.
Julie Castle
Julie Castle is the CEO of Best Friends Animal Society.
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