Animal Shelter

Today at city council work meeting Best Friends Animal Society will be discussing the St George animal shelter.

I went and toured both the St George shelter and the Ivins shelter on Monday. I showed up at the St George shelter unannounced at 8:30 in the morning. They were very friendly and let me in even though they don't open until 10:00 and it was a Monday morning. The smell was overwhelming. They were still in the process of cleaning cages when I arrived. They had many animals waiting for adoption; cats, dogs, 2 ferrets, and a rabbit.

It is extremely noisy in the area the dogs are kept. They have ordered sound absorbing panels for the shelter but they have not yet arrived. The shelter staff realize their shelter is outdated and they are not opposed to a new shelter but they can only work with the resources they have. I don't think there would be opposition to a no kill shelter if they had the room to hold the animals they receive.

Also the shelter would greatly benefits from kennels with access to the outdoors. It would significantly improve the smell and condition overall.

There is a distinct contrast in the St George and Ivins shelter. Obviously Ivins is a newer facility and I was told the price tag was about 375,000 dollars. There was also a lot of donated labor and materials.

Ivins is very fortunate to have the "Friends of Ivins" group to raise funds for them. It also helps alleviate the burden on the taxpayer. St George would benefit from a group willing to do the same for our shelter. In order for a similar type of group to commit to a project like Ivins the St George shelter would have to commit to a no kill shelter. Ivins also told me they are not an entirely no kill shelter. There are times they have to put an animal to sleep due to health issues and viciousness.

With the number of scouts in our area trying to come up with Eagle projects the shelter could benefit from these projects. Ivins has had several Eagle projects their shelter has benefited from.

There is a lot of work to be done and I think it will take a team effort to accomplish what is ultimately desired. With the city and the community working together I believe we can find solutions to improve the shelter.