New $6M building is fresh start for Tri-Cities animal shelter. Some activists still worry
Pasco's new $6 million Tri-Cities Animal Shelter will open more than a year later than initially expected.
At one point, the long-awaited shelter was expected to open as far back as December 2023 , but contractor delays have meant the city just got the keys to the building in the last two weeks.
One of the biggest sources of the delays was settling on which indoor kennels to use. The city finally has a decision, but they still need to be installed.
The new shelter isn't significantly larger, but modern improvements are aimed at increasing the quality of life for animals.
But the planned improvements haven't satisfied everyone. A vocal group of community members continue to question the Animal Control Authority's choices for the shelter. They also wonder why they don't have the opportunity to have a say in how the shelter is run, after years of turmoil involving previous contractors.
The anticipated January opening also comes about a year after some former staff members of the shelter's contractor were charged with animal cruelty.
The nonprofit Neo's Nation operated the shelter and animal control services for Pasco, Richland and Kennewick for less than a year before volunteers began suspecting something was amiss with the way the nonprofit's leadership was moving animals out of public view.
Dozens of dogs were found to have been severely neglected and authorities believe hundreds of cats may have been moved into an outbuilding.
Many of the animals required serious veterinarian attention. The Benton-Franklin Humane Society stepped into to take over the shelter on a temporary basis after the animal abuse was discovered.
In the end, Pasco took over managing animal services in cooperation with the other cities and each chipped in $2 million to build a new shelter to replace the aging, cramped facility.
Features of the new facility
The Tri-Cities Animal Shelter is a joint effort of the cities of Pasco, Kennewick and Richland working together as the Animal Control Authority, the public agency whose primary job is to implement and provide animal control and services at the shelter. The city of Pasco leads the authority.
The interlocal agreement between Pasco, Kennewick and Richland was signed in 2016 for design and construction of the new shelter.
Crews started construction for the shelter in late 2022 on a spot overlooking the Columbia River.
City officials told the Herald that the cost of construction is on track for the budgeted amount of $5.8 million.
The new 9,600-square-foot building will be on 2.5 acres next to the existing facility off South 18th Avenue in Pasco. It will replace three structures, one of them dating back to the 1950s.
Animal shelter manager Ben Zigan wrote in a statement to the Herald that the new facility will have improved ventilation, lighting and noise control.
"Shelters built in the 1950s were generally focused on basic housing and containment, often with minimal regard for animal comfort, mental stimulation or disease control," Zigan said. "They typically had smaller, crowded kennels with poor ventilation and lighting, making them noisy and stressful environments for animals."
The new shelter will be nearly 1,000 square feet larger than the current complex and will reduce the number of animals housed together in shared spaces.
The existing shelter has 70 dog kennels and 65 cat cages.
The new site will hold slightly more animals with 77 dog kennels and 26 cat condos. There can be two cats per condo, for a total of 52 cats.
Andrea Moreno told the Herald that the new capacity for dogs is insufficient. She is the director of operations at Mikey's Chance, a Tri-Cities-based nonprofit that matches foster dogs with new homes.
"It's a kick in the teeth," Moreno said. "It's not enough to keep up with three growing cities."
City officials told the Herald that cat capacity will likely be more, since the new shelter will have two cat adoption rooms where ready-to-adopt cats would be housed.
Zigan said that there isn't a need for more staff members because the number of animals under care in the new facility will not significantly increase.
Currently, the facility has five distinct sections for dogs and the new shelter will expand that to eight sections.
The new facility will also have four fenced outdoor areas for dogs. The location will allow volunteers to continue to take advantage of the existing trail system when they walk the animals.
It is expected to have a separate area for visitors to be able to meet and spend time with their prospective pets, an exam room for sick and injured animals and improved access from the street.
"Modern shelters prioritize the animals' quality of life, incorporating natural light and sound-dampening materials. Today's shelters also emphasize enrichment spaces, better disease prevention measures and more humane kennel designs, improving the animals' physical and emotional health."
City officials told the Herald in a separate statement that plans for the old facility are "yet to be determined."
Delays with kennels
In August, Pasco city council accepted a quote for new dog and cat kennels from Idaho-based MWI Veterinary Supply, costing $420,000.
The bid was accepted after the city had to go out a second time with a request for quotes.
Quotes for the kennels from the first round were overbudget. The city council rejected all of the quotes at its June 17 meeting because the lowest responsive quote was nearly $570,000, exceeding the engineer's estimate of just above $420,000.
The second request was different because material types changed and two new overflow kennels were added.
City officials told the Herald that the veterinary supply company started to measure the kennel area inside the building more than two weeks ago. The kennels should be completed by the end of December.
In the current facility, there are indoor-outdoor kennels that allow all animals to look outside while staying in their kennels.
But there will not be any kennels with outdoor access at the new shelter.
Judy Nelson is an animal activist who lives in West Richland. She told the Herald that the lack of indoor-outdoor kennels is "inhumane."
"Personally, I don't see anything getting better with the new shelter," she said.
Aggressive dogs are currently kept in a separate building. At the new facility, aggressive dogs will be housed in secure kennels within the shelter.
Nelson explained that when dealing with dogs with aggression, staff may decide that they must stop being walked due to safety concerns.
She worries that without an outdoor kennel option at the new facility, those aggressive animals will not have have a change in their environment.
"By definition, a shelter is supposed to care for these animals, comfort them, give them a place to rest and help them get revitalized and receive compassion," Nelson said.
"They now are literally going to be prisoners of the kennels that made them aggressive to begin with."
Zigan said that he and city officials understand the public's concern regarding indoor-outdoor access in the dog kennels.
"The new shelter design has prioritized the animals' well-being by incorporating a flexible and enriched environment," he said.
"While the kennels may not have direct outdoor access, the dogs will have outdoor time in exercise yards to meet their physical and mental needs."
Community pushes for advisory board
A passionate group of animal advocates has been asking for a community board since April 2023 to be able to weigh in on issues.
Nelson is one of the proponents for a board.
"We need an advisory board because that will be the bridge that can finally get the public and the city working together," Nelson said.
But an advisory board is not legally allowed under the current structure of the Animal Control Authority.
Pasco city attorney Eric Ferguson said at the city council meeting on Sept. 9 that the authority is a function of the city managers, not a separate legal entity.
If Pasco city council were to appoint an advisory board, it would violate separation of powers. He explained that a subcommittee of the city council, as the legislative branch, could not give direction to the shelter's management committee, the executive branch.
The management committee includes the city manager or their designee from each city. The committee's responsibilities include creating policies, approving contracts and setting the annual budget.
That committee itself could appoint a board, however.
"If there can be amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, there can be an advisory board created in a little town in Eastern Washington," Nelson told the Herald.
She said that city officials have not separately communicated with her or proposed other ways that she and other citizens could be involved in the shelter's operation.
Moreno said that after years of attending Kennewick, Pasco and Richland city council meetings to advocate for an advisory board, she is now looking into other avenues to be heard.
She told the Herald that she has had small group meetings with Pasco director of parks and recreation Jesse Rice and city manager Adam Lincoln to try to develop a new volunteer program and address other concerns.
Rice is Pasco's representative on the Animal Control Authority's management committee, working with two other representatives from Kennewick and Richland, BJ Moos and Christopher Mason.
During a discussion of the animal shelter's proposed 2025-2026 budget at the Oct. 28 Pasco City Council meeting, Rice said that he is uncertain if an advisory board would be helpful.
"An advisory board set up at my level isn't going to resolve the community's needs," Rice said. "If the cities are interested, an advisory board would better be done at the interlocal agreement level so that there is a city council representative on the board...It is complex because we have to get three city councils and three cities to agree we want to do that."
Trial dates for Neo's Nation staff
The former staff of Neo's Nation are awaiting trial after being charged with dozens of counts of animal cruelty.
Trial for the former director Rebecca Howard and former office manager Justin Hernandez is set to begin in December, related to 48 counts of animal cruelty .
Separately, the nonprofit's finance officer, Julie Chambers, is scheduled to go to trial in late October on first-degree theft and money laundering charges.
The next Animal Control Authority meeting is on December 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Pasco City Hall.
