Superior City Council Delays New Animal Shelter
Posted at: 10/02/2012 10:07 PM
| Updated at: 10/02/2012 11:36 PM
By: Paige Calhoun
The Animal Allies shelter in Duluth is a state-of-the-art, 11,000 square foot facility with a clean and welcoming feel, along with a variety of educational programs. For over two years, Animal Allies Executive Director Rick Sailstad said they along with four other groups have been working to create a facility like that in Superior.
"We're probably only going to build one animal shelter in the next 30 years and it's really important to try to do it right the one chance we have in our lives to do this," Sailstad said.
Animal Allies recently took over operation of the City of Superior's animal shelter. While the Humane Society of Douglas County is likely to close down next year. They were all hoping to build one facility that would serve the city and the county. They worked on a plan, but couldn't come to a final agreement.
"We're trying to get a little more time, just to resolve those issues," Sailstad said.
Tuesday, the city council discussed moving forward with a scaled back shelter of about 6,000 square feet that would serve the city only. With the county facility set to close its doors, Sailstad fears that will also close the doors on county strays, "Without them there will be nowhere to go."
Animal Allies staff turned out to the Superior City Council meeting Tuesday night, asking the council to table their decision. Folks from the county and the townships also spoke out, stating they too are willing to come back to the negotiating table.
Several councilors were concerned that they weren't getting enough funding from the county or the townships, but in the end, voted to delay work on a city shelter, giving the groups more time to work out their differences, and more hope that one day Superior could have a facility similar to Duluth.
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