No impound space for Logan at Cache Humane Society as of August 1st

News broke late in the day on Thursday that negotiations had broken down between Logan City and Cache Humane Society on a new contract. As of August 1st,  the shelter will no longer provide impound space to Logan City. According to Humane Society director Stacey Frisk, at the center of the issue is a request for a 20-percent rate increase from the Humane Society to cover additional costs and increasing costs for operation.

She said it also included a counter offer from the city that she said made several demands, including expansion of reserved space and a request for some changes to services that Logan City felt might be impacting their ability to collect fees. On KVNU’s For the People program on Friday, Frisk wasn’t sure where impounded dogs will go after August 1st.

“We don’t know.”  She explained, “so really quickly I’m just going to walk people through what impounding means. Utah state law, it’s the Utah Animal Welfare Act, requires that stray dogs be held at an impound facility for five days to give their owners time to find them.

“That’s actually one of the most rewarding parts of my job, watching people come into the shelter and find their dog and know that their dog was safe and know that their dog is going home with them.”

Frisk said they have a reclaim rate of about 78 percent on stray dogs. Cache Humane Society is a ‘No-Kill’ facility, so unclaimed animals at the end of the five day impound period are spayed and neutered, if needed, and then put up for adoption.

She said that Cache County, unlike the majority of counties in the state, does not maintain any sort of municipal shelter facility and is the largest county in the state not to provide that. That means non-profits like Cache Humane have stepped in to fill that gap. Logan City has contracted with the shelter for about 10 years. But, Frisk said, in recent negotiations the counter offer from the city offered less and demanded more.

Their counter offer was both a significant reduction in shelter funding and a request for unlimited kennel space within our facility which, for us, was really shocking. We serve as the impound facility for five other incorporated communities and for most of the rural county. We also provide a safe place to surrender pets when families can no longer provide care and it had honestly never been on the table to functionally let Logan City assert use of the entire facility.”

She said at that point they realized they could better serve the community in other ways. Frisk said they have not heard from Logan City despite repeated assurances the last couple of months that the issue would be addressed by the city council. KVNU tried to reach out to Logan City on Friday but was unsuccessful.

AUDIO: Cache Humane Society director Stacey Frisk talks to For the People host Jason Williams

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