Chances for Cedar Rapids-Linn County animal shelter still alive

There's still a chance for a joint Cedar Rapids-Linn County animal control and shelter operation.

“There appears to be sufficient interest,” county Public Health Director Curtis Dickson said after this afternoon's annual joint board meeting with county supervisors. “The city has put feelers out.”

Chances for a joint operation seemed to fall apart this summer as the city pursued an agreement with Kirkwood Community College to locate a shelter there. College officials said they wouldn't work with a non-profit such as the Cedar Valley Humane Society, which now performs animal services outside the city limits of Cedar Rapids and Marion.

A city committee last week identified three sites on and near the Kirkwood campus as potential homes for a replacement for the city shelter, destroyed in the June 2008 flood. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provide at least partial funding to replace the shelter.

Dickson said county and city staff will meet to discuss siting, funding, and operations, then report back to the city council and county board. There may still be a role for a non-profit in the county, he said.

“I personally am open to any possible option,” he said. “The city may be locked into a governmental role.”

Dickson said staff should have a list of options for city and county decision-makers by the end of the year. Whatever happens, he said, the county needs to upgrade its animal control practices.

“Our system is broke, and needs to be significantly repaired,” he said.