Jill Schramm/MDN Acting Minot Police Chief Dale Plessas speaks to the Minot City Council Monday about animal pound services. Shown are council members Rob Fuller, left, and Scott Samuelson, right.

The City of Minot’s first six months with a new animal pound operator shows the number of impounded dogs and cats is down, but the reason may be problematic.

Acting Police Chief Dale Plessas and Capt. Justin Sundheim with the Minot Police Department provided information to the Minot City Council Monday regarding the city’s contract with Souris Valley Animal Shelter. The council contracted with SVAS after a local veterinary clinic decided not to renew its decades-long agreement.

The police department reported that, as of July 1, 74 dogs had been impounded, with 47% being reunited with their owners. During that period, 85 cats have been impounded, with 15% being reunited with their owners. One cat was euthanized. This represents an approximate 50%-60% impoundment decrease from prior years, the department reported.

However, the department also noted there has been an increase in holdovers of animals taken into emergency custody due abuse/neglect, abandonment or owners taken into custody for unrelated criminal offenses. These cases have accounted for between 60-142% of the pound’s five-kennel allotments for dogs at the shelter.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase,” Plessas said. “When you’re only holding five kennels, and you have three taken up with long-term holds, it doesn’t take mathematicians to let you know that’s not a very good situation. Right now, we’re at seven long-term holds.”

A judge can determine rehoming of an animal, but unless a specific hearing is requested and granted, the disposition doesn’t occur until case resolution, according to police information.

An option is to move animals from SVAS to foster care, but that raises legal concerns because those animals are the city’s responsibility, Plessas said.

Increasing the number of reserved pound kennels is an option – if the kennels are available, he said.

“One of the issues that we run into is that we’re having to turn away animals with our kennel spaces being taken up by these long-term holds, and as a result, we’re not taking in nearly as many, which is one of the reasons that we’re a little bit below projections on expenses. It’s not a good reason to be under. We’re just not providing the service to the community, which is unfortunate,” Plessas said.

He added, though, that SVAS has made ways to accept animals in emergency situations.

“They have been very good partners in that respect,” Plessas said.

Projected pound costs for 2025 were estimated to be around $200,000. To date, costs incurred are $85,332. Reimbursement/reclaim amounts paid by owners equates to $2,338.

“But that number doesn’t really reflect what was saved by having owners come and get their animals,” Plessas said. “There is the expense of having them take up kennel space, and then there’s also the unknown expense of how many animals we had to turn away because our pound was full.”

The pound also saves the $85 rehoming fee for each unclaimed animal, he said.

The police department will be reviewing several animal ordinances this year, including looking into new fines to adequately cover expenses and licensing requirements that would be more effective. Plessas said the existing licensing ordinance is under-utilized because it relies on veterinarians to license the animals, and their compensation from the city is minimal. He added rather than licensing, he prefers chipping that will stay with the animal and increase the rates of return of animals to owners.

Additionally, the police department has formed a working committee to establish estimated costs and options for a city-owned/operated animal impound.

“That’s not a cheap process under any circumstance,” Plessas said. He said he wants to develop a plan and determine costs that are realistic before bringing an option to the council.

“It seems to make more sense to work through the operational things to make this work with them (SVAS) well before we ever look at taking something on ourselves,” council member Mike Blessum said. “Just want to make sure that’s clear to everybody that you’re taking an immense step once we get on the path of buying property and a building and staffing.”