Weber County’s shelter model — set up as a fee-based enterprise fund under the sheriff’s office — aimed to service up to 15 cities as well as unincorporated areas of the county.

Billed as “state-of-the-art” in a Salt Lake Tribune news story from October 2010, the 20,000-square-foot shelter launched with 15 full- and part-time employees, and Weber County Jail inmates on work release filled in to handle cleaning and laundry chores.

Cities that contracted with the Weber County Animal Shelter would pay $85 per animal taken into the facility, but that fee would not be charged if owners reclaimed their pets.

Participating cities also remain on the hook through 2029 for a $3 million sales tax revenue bond that funded the expansion and enhancements of the county facility. That bill amounts to $219,951 per year.

At the time, John Patterson — Ogden’s chief administrative officer — predicted that the consolidation would allow Weber County’s largest city to break even and even possibly save up to $30,000 per year.

“We’ll enjoy some economies of scale, and it should be better for the animals. And owners will have a single place to redeem their pets,” Patterson said in the 2010 story.

In 2017, the shelter became a no-kill facility, which increased costs but opened the doors for fostering and adoption assistance, along with some financial help as well.

The model worked reasonably well for years — until it didn’t.

Cries for help

Recent Facebook posts indicate a shelter system nearing its breaking point due to overcrowding, understaffing and lack of funding for basic needs such as animal food, cleaning supplies, collars, leashes and water bowls.

In March and April, the animal shelter’s Facebook page posted desperate pleas for adopters and fosters because all kennels were full yet animals kept pouring in.

This August, the shelter posted that it would be limiting public business hours to 1:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays — for a total of 23.5 hours per week.

But the shelter has had to shut down during some of those hours as well due to extreme staffing shortages, according to October Facebook posts.

A late September post noted an abundance of kittens and a need for donations of wet and dry food.

Then a post last Thursday announced that the shelter was under quarantine until Oct. 31 due to a “parvo outbreak in one of our dog rooms.” But the message said the public would continue to be allowed to reclaim or adopt animals and relinquish strays during that time.

Staff burnout

By mid-October the shelter’s animal care and outreach coordinator resigned after nine years of service. Lisa Weiss said she began as a volunteer and didn’t have a paid position for her first six years there.

“I had worked for 30 years in the public sector and was able to take a break. So I thought I’d go about my dream and go walk some dogs,” Weiss said in a recent phone interview. “And it just grew from there.”

In 2017, when the shelter shifted from kill to no-kill, then-Director Chad Ferrin retired and the position sat open for about six months. During that time, Weiss said she worked hard to fill that gap.

At that time, Best Friends Animal Society detailed what was required to switch from a kill to no-kill shelter, Weiss said, indicating the need for more funding. But budget increases never got approved and funding levels stayed static.

The bottom line, Weiss said, is that “you can’t run a no-kill shelter on a kill shelter budget.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people flocked to the shelter to adopt furry companions to help them work from home. However, the pandemic also squashed the use of jail inmates to shoulder daily housekeeping chores.

Then, people returned to work, the population grew and housing costs skyrocketed — factors that caused the shelter’s kennels to overflow and the workload, reportedly, to become overwhelming.

Weiss said she typically worked 60 to 70 hours per week because “these are living, sentient beings that you have to take care of. You can’t just leave at 6 o’clock and say my shift is done. They still need to be fed. That was really hard for me.”

While adoption fees for dogs used to be $89, Weiss noted that for at least 18 months the shelter charged only $25 in an effort to encourage people to take a cat or dog into their homes and hearts.

“They’re not even clearing the red because it costs a lot more than $25 to house a dog for five days, give it its vaccines, microchip and so on,” Weiss said. “We’ve tried to make sure these animals stay alive and Director (Chad) Averett has done a wonderful job.”

Weiss hopes the public understands that the shelter’s enterprise fund only provides minimal fees.

“When we ask for food and everything, it’s because we honestly don’t have the money to buy the food for this overflow of animals,” Weiss said.

Charting the future

During an Oct. 9 shelter budget discussion at the Weber Center — attended by representatives from a few contract cities, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, Averett, Weber County Commissioner Sharon Bolos and Comptroller Scott Parke — funding for hiring additional staff came up as well as strategies to better share the burden of surplus animals.

Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon said the county commission will now be overseeing the shelter instead of his office, and noted that the inmate work release program has been indefinitely suspended due to fentanyl finding its way into the jail.

The shelter currently employs 17 full- and part-time people, including Averett. Averett hopes to add two more full-time positions plus obtain $85,000 to contract out laundry and cleaning — for a total of $251,130 in additional costs to be distributed among participating cities.

Minutes from a Nov. 3, 2009, county commission meeting incorrectly anticipated that “billings to the cities on a per animal unit will be sufficient to cover those costs.”

Parke noted that the shelter’s costs cannot be covered by increased fees alone, because no one will pay $400 to adopt an animal, and switching back to kill from no-kill would make very little difference in the shelter budget because it would mean losing the support of organizations such as Best Friends.

But Roy Mayor Bob Dandoy said his city currently pays $360 to $380 for each dog and cat brought into the shelter from his area — and if that fee rises to $500, he’s not sure it’s fair to the roughly 40,000 residents in Roy because “our sales tax dropped to the bottom and we’re not seeing any growth.”

Dandoy suggested that the shelter become an independent taxing entity rather than operating as an enterprise fund. He also considered the idea of Roy establishing its own shelter or holding facility for strays.

“I’m hoping to find win-win possibilities,” Dandoy said of his city’s barebones budget.

Averett pointed out that there are standards of care that shelters must meet, whether it be heating and cooling systems or how animals are vaccinated — and those costs add up.

Bolos anticipates that Averett’s request for additional staff and contracted cleaning services will be addressed by late December.

“If we can contract the cleaning and the laundry out, I think it’s going to make a big difference down there,” Bolos said.

Weber County commissioners will hold a public hearing on the 2025 tentative budget sometime in November, and then the final budget comes up for approval Dec. 17, Bolos said. Meeting agendas can be found at https://tinyurl.com/25t597h2.

Switching shelter operations from an enterprise fund to a taxing entity would need to be placed on the ballot for a countywide vote, Bolos added.

“If we can make this work without going that route, it’s probably going to save the taxpayers more in the end,” she said.

In the meantime, Bolos plans to examine what other cities have done to manage their stray animal populations.