County seeks new provider for wayward pets

Lincoln County is looking for a new provider to take care of pets that have nowhere else to go.

At the June 12 commissioners meeting, Health Department Director Kathi Hooper said the Tobacco Valley Animal Shelter was ending its $50,000 contract with the county to house and care for animals collected by animal control. The contract expires on July 4.

Hooper told The Western News she's optimistic that someone will step forward, but hadn't received any proposals as of Monday morning.

"We're talking with individuals and organizations to see if there is any interest and we're also working on estimates for the county to do it," Hooper said.

TVAS has locations in Libby and Eureka, but will no longer offer services in Libby.

According to information posted on the TVAS Facebook page, Director Wendy Anderson said, “This decision allows us to focus more of our time, energy and commitment on our mission statement of helping the pets and people of Lincoln County in various aspects of pet ownership.”

In an interview with The Western News, Anderson said the Eureka location would take any animals that are in the Libby shelter when the contract ends July 4. The only exception are 11 dogs that are involved in an animal cruelty case.

“We’ll be bursting at the seams, but we’ll manage and get ‘em adopted,” Anderson said. “The adoption rate has declined nationwide and it’s the same here. Right now there are a lot of big, male dogs that people don’t know what to do with and they end up in shelters. There are also many places where landlords don’t allow animals. This will also allow us to focus on prevention, obedience and training, which is our true mission.”

Anderson said people with questions about what is happening should call 406-889-5457.

The non-profit was formed in 2008 and negotiated a contract with the county to ensure all adoptable pets were signed over to TVAS after three days, instead of being euthanized, according to information on its website. The contract also requires it to house and care for stray, surrendered and impounded animals in Eureka.

In 2010, the group built a new facility north of town where they are currently located. The contract was expanded in 2013 to service the south end of the county (Libby and Troy) and opened the Tobacco Valley Animal Shelter, Libby facility. 

Since then, they’ve had more than 9,300 pets through its doors, provided thousands of pounds of pet food to community pets and facilitate more than 5,000 spay/neuter surgeries for the owned pets of Lincoln County residents. 

In a 2023 interview with The Western News, Anderson said In 2022, there were more than 500 animals through both shelters which was a record. The shelter saw a lot of neglected and abused pets last year, she said.

“With the issues that are happening with the economy, we’re finding more and more people are finding it more difficult to keep their pets,” Anderson said then. “So it also leads to less adoptions and our average length of stay went from seven days to 19 days, which is a huge jump for dogs.”

Hooper said at the June 12 meeting that the shelter had taken in 173 animals.

“I don’t know if you’ve been in the shelter here, but it needs a lot of work,” Hooper said.

“District 2 commissioner Jim Hammons quipped, “Like a match?”

There was discussion about who may be interested in the contract and Hooper said Kootenai Pets for Life was not interested the last time it was available.

The $50,000 the county gave TVAS is 21% of its budget.

But Anderson pointed out that to fulfill the contract, it had to take in all the impounded pets in the county.

Anderson said in the Facebook post that discontinuing the contract with the county will allow TVAS to, “refocus on its core mission,” which means providing training and behavior counseling, food and supplies and increasing access to spay and neuter services as well as adoption.

She also said they will expand preventive services and community outreach programs.

District 3 Commissioner Josh Letcher bemoaned the fact that more pet owners don’t spay or neuter.

“It costs $150 to $175 to do it and a lot of people think a coyote is going to grab them sooner or later, so they don’t bother.”

Hooper said pet adoptions occur more in Eureka than Libby.

“A lot of animals end up going to Canada,” she said.

Most everyone agreed that the area needs a veterinarian who will perform spay and neuter services.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske asked if anyone had sought grants for the shelter in Libby.

“Haven’t found much, but we really haven’t been looking for money for the shelter,” Hooper said. "We do know if we limit services, we'll see more dogs on the loose and more bites."

There are 11 dogs in the Libby shelter and two in Eureka due to pending court cases for animal neglect or abuse.