In a move supporters say is financially prudent but could become fraught with emotion, city officials may close down the Franklin Animal Shelter at the end of June.
Franklin City Manager Elizabeth Dragon raised the possibility of closing the shelter in her proposed budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which starts in July, saying the shelter's core group of volunteers are dedicated but its management is weak.
If Dragon's budget is approved, the city council would not renew the 10-year lease on its small building on Punch Brook Road, and it would no longer pay the shelter for its animal control needs. Instead, Franklin would contract with the New Hampshire Humane Society, headquartered in Laconia, for the care of stray and neglected animals, officials said.
"I understand that it's a little bit of an inconvenience for people to go there, but I believe that the benefits and the stability of the organization outweigh the inconvenience," Dragon said.
The Former shelter has operated under the management of the Granite State Animal League for about a decade, officials said. The city paid the Granite State Animal League about $20,000 annually to manage the area's cats and dogs and place them in proper homes. Dragon said the city's burden increased last year after it paid about $1,000 for electricity in the building, which has running water but no bathroom.
The shelter can board seven dogs and nine cats, according to city documents, and is open about 25 hours a week.
Its greatest cost is payroll - its two part-time workers were collectively paid about $24,400 in 2011, according to the same documents. Its second-greatest cost is veterinary bills - $11,300 in 2011, $6,225 the year before, the records say. Its total annual expenses are about $40,000, and it raises additional money from donations, grants and shelter fees.
This year, the shelter asked for a $30,000 appropriation instead of $20,000. Decreased donations in a tough economy and increased costs made the request necessary, Board President Laurence Boyett wrote in a March 21 letter to the city. Without the additional money, the shelter would have to shut down, he wrote.
"An increase in the budget allocation to $30,000 is insignificant to the total city budget but is very significant to the success of the shelter," Boyett wrote.
It was then that city officials decided to look for a more affordable and sustainable option, Franklin Mayor Ken Merrifield said.
"A 50 percent increase is just not in the cards this year," Merrifield said.
The fact that the organization's tax-exempt status with the IRS was revoked last year after it failed to file the necessary paperwork for three consecutive years underscored the organization's management struggles, Merrifield said.
"People come and go from the organization, and the reliability of that kind of operation makes us nervous," Merrifield said.
Dragon said a contract with the New Hampshire Humane Society would be $15,000 - half the amount requested by the animal shelter. The Humane Society would provide additional services, she said, including a pet food bank for families in need, controlling the city's rampant feral cat population and assisting investigations into allegations of cruelty and neglect.
But Jeffrey Brewer, who has been the board's treasurer for two months, said his organization did not receive enough notice from the city.
"I would have liked to have had a heads up," he said. "I would have liked to have a conversation."
Moreover, Brewer said, the city might not be getting a truly better deal from the New Hampshire Humane Society.
"They'll spend less money on the face of it, but they'll spend soft money in terms of their police officers are going to be out of the city longer, traveling with dogs to a location farther away. They'll be spending money on gasoline to get there," Brewer said. (next page »)
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