Dearborn animal shelter contract ends in 5 days; meeting on fate tonight

A Dearborn City Council meeting Wednesday could decide the fate of stray animal care in the city starting July 1.

The City Council is holding a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at the Dearborn Administrative Center as concerns over a city contract with Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit come to a head.

Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit has asked for a more than 50% annual increase in what the city pays for their services, based on figures provided by the nonprofit to the Free Press. Shelter leadership argues they’re only asking the city to pay the true cost of the city-required four-day hold and care for strays, but the increased cost is a concern for city officials.

Council President Michael Sareini says his research indicates other municipalities don’t pay quite so much.

“We need to decide what's best for our taxpayers and residents of Dearborn, because we want to make sure that we get the best value,” he said.

Sareini, along with Council Member Ken Paris, called the meeting Wednesday, and Sareini said the council will make a choice on how to proceed, which could mean extending the contract or going with another vendor.

Under its last contract, the city had been paying $194 per animal for the four-day holds required for animals without identification to be found by their owners before being moved through the system and put up for adoption, said Cory Keller, president and CEO of Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit. That includes required care, Keller said, including neutering.

The shelter is now asking for the actual cost at $324 per dog and $282 per cat to cover the four-day holds, Keller said.

“We can't continue to eat these costs that are legally required, that are the responsibility of the city of Dearborn,” Keller said.

Comparisons with other municipalities are hard to track down, Keller said, and Colleen Robar, spokesperson for the nonprofit, said it isn’t their place to talk about other cities.

Councilmembers, however, indicated such figures would be discussed at the meeting Wednesday.

The nonprofit assumes responsibility for any costs after four days and exact costs are highly dependent on the animal, its size and what’s needed, Keller said.

The average stay in the shelter for animals is 20 days, and in 2023, 419 dogs and 1,052 cats were cared for, according to the nonprofit.

Keller said the shelter has been meeting with city leadership since April trying to solve the issue. Now five days remain on the contract.

Both Keller and Sareini said that attempts at a temporary extension have so far fallen through; the shelter can only proceed with such an extension at the new rate, Keller said.

The nonprofit has said if no agreement is reached before June 30, the city could be left without animal care services, but Sareini said officials won’t let that happen. Competitors are already in conversation.

“We have never skirted our duties and the service will be provided, it just might not be provided by Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit,” he said.

Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit has been contracted by the city since 1996 to run the city’s animal shelter and runs under the city police department.

The nonprofit seems to have forgotten, Sareini said, that taxpayer dollars contributed to the building of their new facility they moved into this year.

The nonprofit does awesome work and has “amazing people with a bunch of really cool volunteers,” said Council Member Kamal Alsawafy. At the same time the city has to be “fiscally responsible,” so a discussion is needed.

Though he said he may not be able to make the meeting himself, Alsawafy said councilmembers are seeking to get a full understanding of the figures and details Wednesday.

“We want to make sure everybody has a fair deal -- fair to our taxpayers and to the animal shelter for the work that they do,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn animal shelter contract ends in 5 days