Animal Shelter holding period changes
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Pet owners may want to check the St. Joseph Animal Shelter quickly if a pet goes missing.
A bill recently approved by the St. Joseph City Council shortens the holding period for unclaimed and impounded animals.
The shelter is now moving from a 10-day holding period to five business days for unclaimed or impounded animals.
"Our license is with the Department of Agriculture, so there's an act called the 'Animal Care Facility Act,' and that's what we follow," said Holly Bowie, the manager of the St. Joseph Animal Shelter. "Their guidelines were a little bit different than our ordinance. We changed the ordinance to reduce the hold time for some owned animals so that we could move animals quicker through the system because we've been struggling, as you know, with space really frequently."
The ordinance states, "All unregistered dogs and cats which shall have remained in the public pound or animals shelter for five business days, counting as one day, and not including the day of pickup at least one Saturday, without being claimed and released, shall be euthanized in a humane manner or shall be sold and the proceeds of such sale shall be deposited with the director of finance."
Bowie said euthanasia will not be the first option when it comes to working on clearing the shelter. The shelter will work with families to make sure their pets make it home safely.
Families looking to get their pets back home must provide proof of ownership when coming to pick up their pet.
"If the animal is not chipped or wearing a tag that's identified to the owner, we will accept veterinary records, photographs or a combination, you know, paperwork/purchase paperwork," said Bowie.
As the ordinance states, if an animal is unclaimed past the five animal shelter business days, the animal will be put up for adoption.
A person wishing to purchase an unclaimed dog will pay a $10 purchase price, whereas, a cat will be $5.
Adopters will also have to pay costs associated with potential spay or neutering, microchipping and any fees for rabies and preventive vaccines.
The microchip fee is just over $7, while the vaccination fee is $15.
Bowie said, with the space struggles and high intakes of animals, the overall goal is to get more animals out of the shelter.
"If they have a microchip or a tag that identifies the owner, we may have to extend the hold times, especially if there's an owner that's actively trying to get to their dog, or if we haven't been able to reach them," said Bowie. "We're going to make every effort we can to return dogs where they came from."
