The Niagara Falls City Council deadlocked, at a special meeting Tuesday evening, on a request from Mayor Robert Restaino to approve a contract for a vendor to provide temporary dog sheltering services for the city.
Restaino had asked the council to approve a contract with Island Pet Lodge, Inc., a company owned by Town of Grand Island animal control officer Michael Ludwig and his wife, Kim, after the city issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) calling for a vendor to provide shelter services for the city from April 28 to Dec. 31, with an option to extend the contract “until a city owned dog shelter is fully operational.”
The need for a temporary dog shelter service provider was created when the city’s current vendor, The Pit Chic, on Grand Island, announced its exit from the animal sheltering business.
Pit Chic owner Kelli Swagel said in early March that she was terminating her contract with the city because she was “restructuring” her business and intended to move away from municipal animal sheltering contracts to focus more on dog boarding and training.
Swagel, who also operates a non-profit dog rescue organization Rescue Buffalo, has said a rise in animal cruelty, animal abandonment and strays have presented challenges for rescues and shelters that cater primarily to local dogs.
Ludwig’s proposed contract offers to make 10 kennel spaces available to the city on or before April 28, at a monthly charge of $10,500, which, over the course of a standard 30-day month, equals a daily rate of $350. The city paid The Pit Chic a monthly rate of $20,270.
In his proposal, Ludwig indicates that his company will only release stray dogs under its care to “rightful” owners during normal business hours and only after the owner has presented staff with a photo identification and a receipt signed and dated by the city clerk that confirms ownership and the owner’s payment of all applicable charges and fees.
According to Ludwig the Island Pet Lodge was formed in 2010 and the company’s Grand Island location, which provides dog daycare, boarding and training services, opened in 2011. The site has also served as the Town of Grand Island’s municipal dog shelter for the past decade.
The 10 available kennels are less than the 13 to 14 spaces regularly provided by The Pit Chic. Acting Falls Corporation Counsel Thomas DeBoy told council members that the SPCA of Niagara had offered to provide additional space for stray dogs “if necessary” and on “an emergency basis.”
“So that would be sort of an insurance policy for the city,” DeBoy said. “And we very much appreciate that.”
When council member Brian Archie (D) asked if there was a letter from the SPCA or a representative of the organization present to verify DeBoy’s claim, the city attorney said there was not.
Archie also expressed disappointment that the temporary shelter is outside Niagara County.
“I have a problem with another outside-the-county provider,” the council member said.
Council Member Donta Myles (D) said he found the services available from the Pet Lodge to be lacking.
“If he’s just gonna feed (the dogs) and water (the dogs), that’s not good,” Myles said. “That is bare minimum service for our dogs.”
Myles and Archie voted against awarding the contract. Council Chair James Perry (D) and Member David Zajac (R) voted to approve it. The 2-2 vote, with Council Member Traci Bax absent, failed.
There was no immediate word on the administration’s plans to provide sheltering services after April 28.