HOT SPRINGS – During last month’s Jan. 2 regular meeting of the Hot Springs City Council, the contract for animal control services for dogs and cats was renewed with Battle Mountain Humane Society (BMHS) by a 5 to 3 vote. The three nay votes – which came from council members Larry Pratt, Hal Glanville and J.R. Huddleston – were due to concerns that BHMS was not fully honoring the contract in regards to taking in nuisance dogs and adequately addressing feral cats.
Because of the concerns expressed by council members, City Administrator Bob Nelson Jr. scheduled a meeting with BMHS President Tonia Wagoner on Jan. 17 and came away with a very favorable impression of the facility and the workers.
“I believe the BMHS has an incredible facility and staff and we only need to work on our communication, expectations, and relationship,” stated Hot Springs’ City Administrator in an email to the newspaper last week, summarizing his visit last month. “I want to have a great working relationship with BMHS and I believe with open communication we will have that for sure. The tour of their facility was enlightening and I was impressed with the facility and the staff.”
City Administrator Nelson also penned a letter to the city council members which went into more detail about his favorable findings during the tour. Included with his letter were statistics provided to him by BMHS which break down many of the nokill facility’s expenses and also their rates of adoption for dogs and cats. Similar data was also shared with the newspaper by Connie Geiser, who serves as director of BMHS.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand what we all do here and the fact that we are adopting as many dogs and cats as we do,” stated Geiser in a phone interview last week.
According to the 2023 totals Geiser gave to the newspaper, BMHS took in a total of 370 animals last year (183 dogs / 187 cats) and adopted out 351 (178 dogs / 173 cats) which shows an adoption rate of 97% for dogs and 93% for cats, meaning only 19 animals did not find homes, and for the most part, remained at the facility at the beginning of 2024.
This past weekend, BMHS hosted an adoption event where Geiser said about 12-15 people attended. During that time, one dog and four cats were adopted and found permanent homes. The one dog, named Juno, had been at the shelter for 3 years and 11 months, while one of the cats was 12 years old and had been at BMHS for 2 years and 5 months.
Geiser also stated that the facility’s expenses range from $20,000 to $25,000 per month, which includes payroll, insurance, utilities, veterinary care, building maintenance and food for the animals. She added that the facility goes through two full bags of dog food per day. They currently have 98 dogs and 56 cats on site.
The facility currently has 10 parttime paid employees. They also have a handful of volunteers who help out on occasion, but the facility is actively seeking more volunteers.
The cost to spay and neuter animals is a significant portion of their annual veterinary bills. In 2023, Geiser said there were a total of 238 animals fixed which created a cost of $21,931 for the year. In 2022, there were 310 animals fixed for $33,218, and in 2021 there were 271 animals for $28,560.
Eighty percent of the revenue that comes into BMHS is in the form of donations and adoption fees. Geiser said the facility relies heavily on donations, which can be made through their website (www. battlemountainhumanesociety.org) and often come in the form of monthly contributions from long-standing supporters who appreciate its no-kill policy.
The other 20 percent of BMHS’s revenue includes grants and the monthly payment for services that it receives from the City of Hot Springs, Custer County and the City of Custer which totals just over $4,000 per month. The contract with Hot Springs for animal control and boarding is $2,000 per month, while Custer County pays $1,083 per month and Custer City pays $1,000 per month.
At its Feb. 5 meeting, the Hot Springs City Council approved an amendment to the BMHS contract that was approved on Jan. 2, which increased the fee that the owner of an impounded animal will pay to get their animal back, from $10 to $20. In addition, an animal will now be put up for adoption after three days of being impounded. Previously, that number was seven days. These changes were the result of the communication effort put forth by City Administrator Nelson from his visit there last month.
Following are excerpts from the letter sent from Nelson to the city council, addressing the concerns expressed at the Jan. 2 council meeting: “We discussed several items with highlights on cats being picked up and returned to the City, vicious dogs, and citations,” Nelson wrote to the city council. “Ms. Wagoner spoke to the cat issue and indicated the facilities cannot handle any more cats and I witnessed that first hand. BMHS does euthanize sick and diseased animals as well as spay and neuter cats prior to taking them back to the City. Ms. Wagoner indicated the cost to euthanize or spay and neuter has become a large dollar amount to absorb in their budget and they are unable to house any additional cats currently.
“In regard to vicious dogs, Ms. Wagoner and her team indicated no dog is an issue and they will not refuse to address a vicious dog. Ms. Wagoner and her team were concerned if citations are written the City would not stand behind the citation, I indicated if the citation is written and has evidence to the citation we would uphold the citation.
“The meeting was productive and from my perspective a fresh start to the working relationship we will have moving forward will lead to a successful animal control program. I will say as a City we need a plan ‘B’ in the event our relationship fails or communication breaks down and we need to service the community in another fashion. In addition, as a follow-up to the cat issue and the cats being returned to the community after being spay or neuter, we as a city will seek an alternative resolution. A resolution may take some time to research and determine what the correct answer is for the community.”
Furthermore, Nelson assured the city council that the office of the City Administrator is comfortable proceeding with BMHS and he will continue to work with BMHS “to provide the best service they can to the community.” Nelson said he would also be requesting information from BMHS in the form of reports on number of citations, number of animals brought in and adopted, etc. to provide to Council.
“As we move forward, a plan ‘B’ will need to be prepared and consideration for budget may be to provide additional funds toward the cat problem,” concluded Nelson.