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Commissioners vote to halt DeKalb Humane Society payments for 2026 pending contract
Summary
After months of failed negotiations, commissioners voted Dec. 22 to stop county payments to the DeKalb Humane Society beginning Jan. 1, 2026, citing repeated rejections of draft contracts and a lack of reporting on use of funds; city leaders said they are pursuing alternate partners for animal control.
DeKalb County commissioners voted Dec. 22 to suspend payments to the DeKalb Humane Society for calendar year 2026 until the shelter and county execute an acceptable contract requiring reporting on use of county funds.
Commissioner Miller read a prepared statement describing months of negotiations, multiple rounds of revised contracts submitted to the Humane Society board and subsequent rejections. "The commissioners have supplied the Humane Society with $50,000 per year with no contract for the past 3 years," he said, adding that the county had extended funding to the end of the year as a gesture of good faith but would stop payments without an executed contract for 2026.
Mayor Dave Clark of Auburn told commissioners his city has faced similar problems in negotiations and described a plan to partner with nearby organizations — including a rescue in Waterloo and a group eight minutes from Auburn — to handle animals and trapping services. Jenny Short, a volunteer on the county committee that negotiated with the shelter, described a recent multiagency response to a frightened dog and expressed frustration the shelter had not worked with the committee to find solutions.
On a motion to stop payments beginning Jan. 1, 2026, until a signed contract was in place, the board voted in favor and directed that the humane society board of directors be notified of the action.
