Caldwell residents press city leaders for solutions as West Valley shelter seeks large contract increase

Caldwell City Council held a public town hall meeting to hear residents— views on a proposed increase in the city—s funding for West Valley Humane Society, the nonprofit that shelters animals picked up by Caldwell animal control. Finance Director Raylyn North told the audience she first learned last fall that West Valley might request a contract increase and that she recommended the organization meet with council after the board declined a preliminary internal budget increase.

Police Chief Rex Ingram opened the factual briefing, saying his animal-control staff respond to roughly 3,000 calls a year and that 350 animals were admitted to the shelter last year. "Out of the 350 animals that were admitted to the shelter from 2024 to to this week, 173 of those animals were stray animals," Ingram said, adding that 111 were recorded as animals at large, two were classified as vicious, and none were the result of a dog bite. Ingram asked the public to consider the public-safety implications of the requested funding: "What does this have to do directly to public safety?"

The proposed contract increase—described by speakers as rising from roughly $68,000 a year to $540,000—prompted repeated questions about cost, oversight and alternatives. City staff said the city currently pays about $1,900 per animal under the existing arrangement;…