Citrus Heights council to consider new animal shelter contract

By Sara Beth Williams–
With cost increases and shelter overcrowding, the Citrus Heights City Council on Wednesday will consider an agreement with the County of Sacramento for animal shelter services through the Bradshaw Animal Shelter, a shelter located about 12 miles away in Sacramento.

The proposal for a new 5-year contract with Bradshaw Animal Shelter (BAS) will be heard at the next City Council meeting, on Aug. 14. The agreement, if approved, would take effect on Sept. 1, 2024, and extend through June 30, 2029, with an option to renew for another two years.

In March 2024, the city received notification from the Placer County Animal Shelter (PCAS) that services with Citrus Heights would not be able to continue after the end of December 2024. The animal shelter cited a significant cost increase and overcrowding of the shelter, which required them to limit service to agencies within Placer County, according to the agenda packet. The current contract between Citrus Heights and Placer County Animal Shelter expires Aug. 31, 2024.

Placer County did offer a limited term contract renewal at $34,000 per month, which would allow the city time to locate and contract with a new vendor. According to the city, the limited-term contract represented a “significant price increase” compared to the regular monthly cost of $18,600. Placer County would also be discontinuing after-hour on-call animal control services, if the limited-term contract renewal went into effect.

After researching multiple regional sheltering alternatives, including, Sacramento County SPCA, Placer County SPCA, Elk Grove Animal Shelter, and El Dorado County Animal Services, the city said that apart from Bradshaw Animal Shelter, no other shelters throughout the region “had the capacity or infrastructure to offer services” to Citrus Heights. Further, the city said all regional shelters are experiencing maximum capacity.

The city has already negotiated an animal services agreement with Bradshaw based on the actual number of animals in need of sheltering, which the city says, allows “flexibility” to pursue alternate kenneling options throughout the five-year term agreement.

“The overall fiscal objective is to limit the number of animals entering BAS from the city by developing and utilizing alternate, locally accessible temporary kennel options for the city’s stray and abandoned animals,” the city said.

The proposed shelter service agreement includes the standard level of care, such as provision of food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, along with fostering services and pet adoption services.

The city lists several benefits wrapped up in the five-year agreement, including a dedicated telephone service for citizens to report animal calls, and the ability for citizens to report online as well as by phone. The agreement also includes dispatch services for current Citrus Heights Animal Services Officers, use of dedicated animal service software, and animal licensing and tracking at no additional cost.

Bradshaw also provides an on-site pet hospital and veterinarian for sheltered animals, low-cost spay and neuter clinics, vaccination clinics, and drive-thru micro-chipping clinics.

There will be a share of cost for animal services through Bradshaw for each year between Citrus Heights, the City of Galt, and the County of Sacramento. The agreement terms would provide the city with sheltering services each year based on the percentage of actual animal intake numbers from the two prior fiscal years. That percentage would be applied to the estimated budget expenses. The county would provide Citrus Heights with cost estimates by March 30 of each year, beginning in 2025, according to the city.

According to a city staff report, there will be no fiscal impact to the city’s General Fund from the proposed change in shelter contracts, as the city has already budgeted for an increased cost of sheltering and has budgeted a prorated cost of $414,354 for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

Those wishing to make a public comment can do so by attending the next City Council meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at City Hall at 6 p.m., or by submitting a written comment beforehand using the city’s website. The deadline to submit comments online is 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting. See the full agenda packet online: Click here.