Cape council to consider more funding for Humane Society shelter

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote Monday on a new, one-year contract with the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri that calls for a 3 percent increase in funding for the heavily used animal shelter.

City staff have recommended a $59,298 contract for fiscal 2017, which amounts to $1,800 more than the current year’s funding. Humane Society officials had requested a $2,502 increase, which would have bumped the city’s share of funding to $60,000.

Under the proposed agreement, the city would pay monthly installments of nearly $5,000 to the Humane Society during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Charlotte Craig, president of the Humane Society board of directors, said Cape Girardeau is one of several entities that contracts with the shelter for animal services. Craig said it is based on “our fair share” with the Humane Society and the contracted local governments splitting the cost.

“It is a win-win for anyone who contracts with us,” Craig said.

City manager Scott Meyer said the new agreement requires the Humane Society to submit a copy of its audited financial statement each year and include documentation of the support received from other local governments and the number of animals and carcasses received from each jurisdiction.

Meyer said it is important for “financial accountability” for Cape Girardeau city government to have such information from organizations it funds.

Craig welcomed the increased funding, adding it was close to what shelter officials had requested.

The Humane Society also has contracts with Cape Girardeau County and the cities of Jackson, Scott City and Chaffee, as well as several towns in Southern Illinois.

The contracts dictates the animal shelter will accept animals from residents and animal-control officers from those jurisdictions. The shelter also receives and disposes of carcasses of dead animals received from animal-control officers.

Craig said it costs the shelter nearly $100 to care for a single animal. Cities such as Cape Girardeau pay about half that cost per animal, with the Humane Society picking up the rest of the tab.

In 2014, the animal shelter at 2536 Boutin Drive in Cape Girardeau handled nearly 4,000 animals, mostly dogs and cats. The shelter also takes in everything from llamas and rabbits to potbellied pigs and goats, and even a few snakes, Craig said. In 2015, the shelter took in more than 3,500 animals.

“We get animals from all over Southeast Missouri,” Craig said.

Residents and animal-control officers in Cape Girardeau account for more than 1,000 of the animals the shelter receives in a year, Craig said.

It is not cheap to run an animal shelter, which has expenses for everything from utilities to pet food.

Craig said the Humane Society spends about $437,000 annually to operate the shelter.

But Craig’s favorite number has nothing to do with money. It is the adoption rate for dogs at the shelter.

Craig said the adoption rate has risen from about 30 percent in the 1980s to more than 80 percent in 2015 and as high as 93 percent for the first quarter of this year.

The adoption rate for cats is much lower, although is has risen in the last few years to about 36 percent.

“It is harder to place them,” she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

2536 Boutin Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.