Village Proposes Doubling the Dollars it Doles Out to PAWS

The village may soon be doubling the money it throws each year for helping house its lost and stray pets. 

contributes $8,000 annually to the 191st Street shelter in exchange for its help caring for impounded animals which are often picked up by . All fees—$25 for the initial impound, plus $11 per day—go straight to the village, Cmndr. Steve Vaccaro said last week. But he and others from the are now proposing that those fees be turned over, instead, to the shelter. They typically accrue to around $8,600 per year. 

The proposal came after the shelter requested more kickback last year from the village based on the time and money it spends grooming, feeding and medically treating stray pets. Staff at the volunteer-run organization presented documents outlining the number of animals that are impounded annually. Members of the public safety committee then applied fees from the Chicago Ridge Animal Welfare League, which is where Vaccaro said animals would be taken if they weren't brought to PAWS.

"It's the next closest facility," he said, adding that it charges $19.50 per day, per animal. 

Based on that fee structure, the village would have paid $17,000 per year between 2007 and 2010, Vaccaro said. It instead paid PAWS just $8,000. But turning over the village's animal impound fees to PAWS would tack on an extra $8,652 to that yearly contribution, according to village documents. That'd leave PAWS with about $16,652 per year.

“It’s still a favorable deal for the village, all things considered,” said Brian Maher, who chairs the committee. He noted that the cost of transportation—unpredictable because of gas prices—would also increase the expense of shipping animals out of town.

Though no PAWS board members were at last week's board meeting, they've given the go-ahead to the committee's revised agreement, officials said. It will come before the full board later this month.

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