Kenai City Manager Rick Koch, alongside Chief Animal Control Officer Cora Chambers, gave a presentation at the February 3 meeting to show trending statistics of the shelter over the past several years.
Koch said one of the more interesting of the trends was less animals being brought into the shelter.
Koch: “Overall there’s been a trend that we’ve had lower numbers of animals that have been taken into the shelter, it’s probably a 5 percent a year reduction and there’s probably a number of reasons for that. Some are that animal control private organizations are really sponsoring spay and neuter clinics and so that has a downstream affect on how many dogs are out there.”
Additionally he explained one trend he was very pleased to see was a reduction in the number of euthanized animals over a three year period.
Koch: “Four years ago the Kenai Animal Control Shelter euthanized 730 animals, that was 46 percent of the intake at the facility. In 2014, 126 animals were euthanized and that’s 14 percent of the total intake that came in and that’s a phenomenally impressive story that speaks volumes of the quality of the people working there, the mission that they’re dedicated to.”
Some members of the public were still discouraged about the new way the shelter deals with after hour drop offs.
Mayor Porter has suggested more discussion to alleviate some of those concerns.