Urbandale City Leaders to Work With Neighboring Cities on Animal Shelter

Urbandale leaders Tuesday approved working with two neighboring cities to share animal-control operations and pursue building an animal shelter that is financed by pet owners, rather than taxpayers.

The city has been using West Des Moines animal control officers and West Des Moines animal shelter since last spring. Before that, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty said, the city used dogcatchers and kept animals caged in a city building that was not satisfactory.

"It was cold and the floors were concrete and the animals were alone for long periods of time," he said. "It was not an animal-control system you want in 2011."

Tuesday evening, the Urbandale City Council unanimously approved a contract that will let the city work with West Des Moines and Clive to hire a company to manage animal control efforts. A longer-term goal will be to build a new animal control shelter, financed by licensing fees from pet owners in the three cities.

More cities may join the group, but McCarty said Urbandale has already cut its animal control costs by nearly half by contracting with West Des Moines' animal control officers, who have been trained in animal control and passed national standards.

Clive city leaders approved the project last week, while West Des Moines' council was to consider the idea this week.

He said the operation can be financed by pet license fees rather than by general tax dollars. But the fees, which haven't changed in years, likely will need to increase. Licenses cost $3 for a neutered animal and $6 for an unneutered pet. He expects pet licenses will cost $15 under the new system.

Clive pet licenses are $10 for neutered animals and $15 for unneutered, and West Des Moines are $15 and $20, said McCarty.

Also, Urbandale doesn't track how many residents have pets, but the city sold only 1,721 licenses last year so "it's fair to say that many Urbandale residents are not buying licenses for their pets."

Other cities have tracked that information using rabies vaccination records, he said.