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Muncie Animal Care director warns of higher feeding and medical costs as shelter stays full
Summary
Director Josh Talby told the finance committee the shelter saw up to about 420–450 animals recently, driving food and medical costs higher; he asked for modest increases and flagged staff turnover, vehicle problems and grant-subsidized medical spending.
Josh Talby, director of Muncie Animal Care and Services, told the Muncie City Council finance committee the department’s 2026 proposed budget increases are modest but driven by higher-than-normal animal counts and operating needs.
"Last month... we had roughly 450 to 420 animals in house," Talby said, and estimated it costs "about $1.35 to $1.45 a day to feed each animal." He pointed to food, litter and institutional medical costs as the largest budget pressure and said some expenses had been shifted to a PEDCO grant when available.
Talby told the committee he trimmed smaller line items—natural gas, gas and oil and other services—to keep the budget conservative given citywide revenue challenges. He increased institutional medical by about $10,000 and food and litter by about $10,000 in the 2026 proposal.
Staffing is a continuing challenge. Talby said the shelter employs 26 people overall, including three full-time animal control officers (ACOs), a full-time cat tech, a full-time dog tech and an office manager, with the remaining workers part time. He said he currently has three full-time and four part-time ACOs, and that turnover has increased overtime and overtime-related line items.
Council members pushed for detail on salaries after Talby’s reported personal salary increase appeared large on the performance report; Talby said the apparent jump reflected earlier misreporting and that the planned increase for 2026 was the 4% the controller’s office provided. The committee asked the administration to supply a salary ordinance to reconcile figures.
Committee members and Talby also discussed vehicle repairs and an interlocal agreement with the county. Talby said commissioners were aware of the need for a replacement vehicle and that current vehicles are more than 100,000 miles and roughly 10 years old. He said the shelter’s service area extends beyond city limits to unincorporated areas and named Gaston, Daleville, Eaton, Selma and Yorktown among areas the shelter serves under interlocal arrangements.
Talby said some medical costs are subsidized by a PEDCO grant that must be used for medical and life-saving measures, and he said he would research whether energy-efficiency grants are available to reduce high electricity costs for the shelter’s older building.
No formal actions were taken at the session; the finance committee asked for updated budget performance reports and a salary-ordinance cross-check before further budget hearings.
