In a unanimous vote, commissioners authorized a contract between the McCracken County Animal Shelter and the McCracken County Humane Society, which will become the only taxpayer funded animal facility in the county.
As part of the deal, the county will pay the MCHS $217,500 per year to help run the shelter, with 90 percent of the funds going toward operating expenses. The county will have one voting board member on the MCHS board, and either organization may terminate the three year agreement with six months notice. The contract will go into effect January 1, 2016.
McCracken County Judge Executive Bob Leeper said he thinks the merger was the best decision for the county, saying the current situation is unsustainable.
"We were not going to be able to maintain that facility much longer, so we had to make a decision," Leeper said. "We're going to be able to take care of the animals. We believe that the Humane Society is committed to caring for the animals and trying to get them adopted as quickly as possible, and we believe the agreement is built around a proposal that takes the animals best interest to heart. At the same time, it protects the taxpayers from extreme expense."
There have been many vocal opponents of a merger since the idea was first raised, several of which were at Monday night's meeting. They have cited past euthanasia policies at the Humane Society and the way they select which animals to take among reasons for being against an agreement. Leeper said that while he can't change the past, there are safeguards in place with the current agreement that will help to assure past mistakes are not repeated.
"I can't change what happened prior, and nobody else can, but we have a contract in place that prevents those things from happening and allows for us to remove ourselves from that contract if we see that occurring. We actually have a voting member on the board that will be able to keep abreast of the goings on in the board of the Humane Society. I feel comfortable that the animals are going to be looked out for constantly, and I think that's going to be important as we move forward." Leeper said.
The MCHS plans to build a new, larger facility to accommodate the additional animals in the near future. Leeper said no county funds will be used for the project.
