The city of New Hartford wants to have its own humane society up and running by January.
New Hartford Supervisor Paul Miscione said their contract with Anita Swan Humane Society expires at the end of this year and the city has decided to look inward to deal with the stray dogs captured by animal control.
“Last year they wanted to take our dogs, but there was a big price increase and a lot of changes were made to the contract,” Miscione said.
One of New Hartford's current animal control officers, John Treen, was previously a shelter manager for Anita Swan, and Miscione said the decision was made to care for the city's dogs.
Miscione said the goal is not for the shelter to be profitable, but for it to benefit the community. But until recently, there was no location available for a New Hartford Humane Society – until the archives building became available.
“This year, [Police Chief Ronald Fontaine], [Treen]and I got together and discovered it was the old record center [on Oneida Street] where our archives used to be stored was available,” Miscione explained. “When we all consolidated our archives into the Gander Mountain building, I suggested we use the old archives building. There's a great layout, plenty of room in the back for the dogs to go outside, and it's part of our park area.”
The New Hartford Town Board approved the move, and Miscione said the goal is to have the Humane Society Building up and running by Jan. 15.
When asked about costs, Miscione said Treen would run the facility so there would be no additional personnel costs unless additional municipalities were brought in.
“For the actual costs, we already have the animal control officer on site. For the building, it cost about $30,000 to add cages,” Miscione said. “And while there will be costs for food and housing for the animals, these are offset by the costs we would have had if we had continued to pay Anita Swans. The costs will be the same or less.”
Any profits generated by the humane society would be put back into it to cover any costs. The regulator added that grants could also cover the cost of rabies vaccinations for New Hartford residents, or even cover the cost of having their dogs spayed and neutered.
And most of all, Miscione said this was an opportunity to turn a building that's not being used into something that would benefit the community.
“We are already receiving messages from people who want to volunteer their time,” he said. “If we can use a building that we have now and become self-reliant, I think it will bring people together in the community.”
“It is not our intention to make money, and it is not a financial gain, but it is a win-win situation for the community,” he added.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: New Hartford to Open a Humane Society
