Davis County Animal Care seeks $15 million shelter, hires to expand veterinary and behavior services

Davis County Animal Care presented its 2025 budget to the Davis County Budget Committee on Oct. 3, 2024, asking that the county continue funding work on a new shelter and approve positions aimed at improving medical care, behavior services and community response.

The presentation detailed a capital plan that budgets $15,000,000 for construction (including FF&E and contingencies) and $1,500,000 for architectural services, and said $8,500,000 has already been transferred into the project fund. "We are planning on $15,000,000 for construction," Animal Care staff told the committee, and they said they are not requesting additional transfers until that $8.5 million has been spent and site work proceeds in spring.

Why it matters: staff argued the new facility — and a set of new positions — would lower operating and medical costs over time and improve welfare outcomes. Animal Care reported a rise in adoptions and reunifications in 2024, but also said shelter stress and limited on-site veterinary capacity contributed to an uptick in euthanasia during 2023 that is now trending down.

Key program numbers and trends. Staff listed recent activity and projections: 2,292 stray intakes in 2023; 666 trap-neuter-return procedures in 2023; roughly 9,483 field calls in 2023; about 4,500 shelter intakes; a projected 2,500+ adoptions in 2024; a return-to-owner rate of about 21.97%; and an expectation of roughly 220 shelter euthanasias in 2024 (down from 2023). The presentation also cited 1,002 reunifications and 553 rehoming-platform listings as evidence of growing community rehoming activity.

Staffing and savings. Animal Care requested multiple personnel additions: a full-time veterinarian (30–40 hours/week), a behavior and training lead, a seasonal foster and rescue coordinator (April–October), an additional dispatcher position to enable full Saturday coverage, and one additional shelter technician. Staff said Davis County spent about $85,000 on contracted spay/neuter surgeries so far in 2024 and estimated needing roughly 2,000 such procedures annually. They told the committee that while an outsourced clinic averages about $120 per procedure, doing surgeries in-house could reduce the marginal per-procedure cost to about $12, achieving substantial long-term savings.

Operational changes and technology. Staff described a software switch in April 2024 from Chameleon to Animals First to enable web-based access, paperless adoptions and improved data tracking. They also reported completing an RFP and conducting a design kickoff for the new shelter, with construction activity expected to start in April pending site work and winter weather.

Supplies, fleet and other budget items. Other requests include six replacement Panasonic Toughbook laptops with FirstNet for field officers, additional tablets for mobile staff, software subscriptions, upgraded medical supplies to support in-house veterinary work, and a $340,000 fleet equities allocation (staff said that figure might be as high as $370,000 depending on final vehicle selections). Staff also proposed a roughly $50,000 annual program to procure consistent bulk pet food to avoid health issues from variable donated food.

Committee questions and next steps. Committee members pressed staff on how donations and transfers are shown in the budget (staff said $215,000 was transferred into operating supplies this year and recommended reflecting the expense to avoid artificial year-to-year swings), the projected 27% payroll increase driven by the requested positions and salary adjustments, and how licensing declines will be addressed. Staff answered questions about on-site clinical oversight and said some clinical work can be done in current space while the new facility is being developed. The committee did not take a formal vote during the session; staff said they will request any additional transfers only if necessary once the existing $8.5 million is spent.

What to watch next: the county is expected to monitor hiring progress for the veterinarian and other positions, track the RFP/construction schedule toward the April start date, and reconcile donated goods and transfers in the operating budget presentation to the committee in future sessions.