Pasco County commissioners voted Tuesday not to let New Port Richey cancel its animal control contract before the end of the fiscal year.
In January, New Port Richey commissioners voted to terminate the animal services contract with Pasco County as of April 1. The city wants to establish a volunteer Animal Protection Unit that would work closely with nonprofit agencies, such as the SPCA Suncoast.
The city has been paying the county's animal services about $56,000 a year. The cost is slated to rise to about $75,000 next year.
Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson, who oversees the county's Animal Services division, said the early termination would cost the department $30,000 this fiscal year. He said the better course of action would be to refuse early termination but work closely with the city to get its program up and running by October.
"They think that with volunteer efforts, they can get the cost down to about $27,000," Johnson said. "I have no confidence in that figure whatsoever."
The financial loss isn't the only reason the county objects to the early termination. Johnson also pointed out that the city's new Animal Protection Unit has not secured a building to house the animals. He also isn't satisfied with the city's approach to rabies suppression and rabies control; both are statutory requirements.
Johnson also pointed out that when the city contracted with SPCA in the past, the county shelter was often forced to accept animals from city residents because the private shelter was full.
New Port Richey isn't the first city to weigh going it alone for animal control. In 2010, former Zephyrhills City Councilman Manny Funes led a charge to privatize animal control services. After more than a year of debate, the city council opted to stay with Pasco County Animal Services.
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