OTHELLO — Adams County Pet Rescue will not be receiving any additional funding from Adams County, and the existing contract between the shelter and the county will remain in effect, according to ACPR Director Kyya Grant, who also spoke about the shelter’s plans moving into 2024.

Grant said ACPR will still be responsible for shelter and animal control services in Adams County, but have reached the limit of the number of dogs they can hold.

“Right now, we're not taking dogs from anywhere. We’re just too full. We’re going to have to limit county (dogs),” Grant said. “There's just no way we can continue taking dogs. I mean, people will probably be upset, but we just cannot do it. We physically can't.” 

The ACPR also recently declined the city of Othello’s contract offer for a flat fee of $75,000 for sheltering services in December. Grant said they are open to reaching an agreement with the city, however. 

“We're still open to negotiation with the city and everything,” she said. “The door hasn't been closed or anything. It's just the contract hasn't been finished being negotiated.”

As of Monday, the city of Othello became responsible for animal control in the city.

“We don't want to turn our back on those animals in the city or anything like that. We just have to come up with a way to negotiate … I understand that probably neither side is going to get what they want 100%. I understand that, and I think they understand that – we just have to come to an agreement,” Grant said. “There are no hard feelings. This is a business deal.”

According to a Dec. 31 statement from ACPR, the shelter had more than 1,390 animals come through its doors in 2023 and the shelter was at capacity or over capacity for most of the year. 

“The way it looks across the United States, things aren't changing anytime soon, or as soon as we need it to change, and so the numbers of dogs aren't going to go away,” Grant said. “The options are still (limited). So, I mean, something has to give.”

ACPR’s GoFundMe has raised nearly $48,000 since it began at the end of September.

“We're still fundraising. I don't think we can stop,” Grant said. “Actually, I met with some people from the GoFundMe team, they reached out to us, and we talked about different ways of trying to raise money and everything, and they gave us some great tips. So we're going to still be using GoFundMe … We're gonna have to be creative in our fundraising. We can't let up; we have to continue. Hopefully, people see the value in what we do.”

ACPR is not planning on simply hoping the problem of excess stray animals will go away. Grant outlined several potential ideas the shelter may take up in the coming year, as well as a planned spay-and-neuter clinic in the summer to help reduce the number of stray animals in the area. Grant said an anonymous donor had already funded an initiative to spay or neuter 100 dogs, a goal that Grant said ACPR has almost reached.

“Right now we're moving forward assuming we will remain open. We have to be positive. We have our spay and neuter events coming up – we're working on a large spay and neuter event for dogs, our first one, this summer. It's still in the planning stages, but we're doing that. We are still going to hit the schools; awareness, education. We're working with the Animal Victory Association back east, and this is our third year making victory bags for the homeless and their animals and sharing some of those with the Moses Lake Police Department like we did last year,” Grant said. “We’re trying to think outside the box, trying to help as many animals as we can without  ruining our staff.”

Despite the challenges, Grant said she and the ACPR staff are thinking positively, and are grateful for the community’s support. 

“We have some absolutely amazing supporters,” she said. “Sometimes you just feel like you're out here alone on this, but we just have some amazing people that were behind us and supporting us and people are doing so many fundraisers for us. It's amazing.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

    A wall of photos in the Adams County Pet Rescue main office depicting animals, staff and volunteers with the shelter.
 File photo   

    Exterior of the Adams County Pet Rescue facility on Bench Road in Othello. According to ACPR Director Kyya Grant, the existing contract with Adams County to provide sheltering and animal control services for $60,000 will remain in place.
 Gabriel Davis/Columbia Basin Herald   

    A 5-month-old Border collie mix that was left with its legs tied together outside the Adams County Pet Rescue office.
 COURTESY PHOTO/ADAMS COUNTY PET RESCUE   

    A dog named Grape Holly stands near the Adams County Pet Rescue facility. According to a statement from ACPR, more than 1,390 dogs went through the shelter’s doors in 2023.
 COURTESY PHOTO/ADAMS COUNTY PET RESCUE