It’s sunny and 80 degrees outside. At the Evansville Animal Care and Control shelter, four dogs are staying in outdoor kennels.
It’s not to get fresh air — it’s because there’s no more room inside the facility for dogs.
On Tuesday, the city shared ways they plan to address this chronic issue. Some ideas are long-term, others can be implemented immediately. New plans stem from the winter Animal Control town hall and a study by non-profit organization Best Friends Animal Society.
Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry said a new "foster-to-adopt" program is one of their suggestions.
“It's going to allow us to take your pets home the same day that you adopt, which is a big win and helps clear out the shelters a little bit more sooner than normal,” she said.
City officials are currently finalizing the program's guidelines — and the penalty structure for non-compliance.
Other Best Friends recommendations include improvements to vaccine protocols and more effective cleaning and disinfection practices.
Behavior enrichment programs are being launched to enhance the well-being of both dogs and cats housed at the shelter.
These changes are expected to be discussed EACC Board at its June meeting.
They’re also working on expanding shelter hours and reducing stray hold times through an ordinance amendment. Expanding office hours is a suggestion from that town hall, but would require talks with the labor union.
Something they can implement sooner is a structured shelter volunteer orientation.
“Which is huge,” Terry said. “This place would not survive without the tremendous volunteers that we have.”
Todd Robertson is executive director of the Transportation department. The EACC also falls under his jurisdiction. He said responsible pet wonders would mean fewer animals in shelters.
“If we could get everybody in the community to become responsible pet owners, then the need for animal care control will diminish tremendously,” he said “But because we have the lack of people being responsible."
This means spaying, neutering and licensing pets. Robertson said most “strays” are not really strays. They were simply let loose from the owners home.
“And so we end up picking them up, and then we end up having to put them in the shelter,” he said, increasing the need for volunteers, staff and supplies.
Terry said a more fewer stray dogs, and therefore a shelter system that isn’t overwhelmed means safer, more vibrant neighborhoods.
Non-profit organization Best Friends Animal Society is still in Evansville analyzing the EACC. Terry said they’ll wait on their final report to begin implementing other changes.
“So this is just a start,” she said.
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