Salina officials acknowledge KDA 'unsatisfactory' inspection; in-house euthanasia suspended pending changes

Salina city staff told the Animal Control Advisory and Appeals Board on Feb. 11 that the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) inspected the Salina Animal Shelter on Jan. 12, 2026 and the facility “received an unsatisfactory result,” prompting immediate corrective action.

In a prepared statement read to the board, shelter leadership acknowledged the inspection findings — citing issues with food storage practices, the condition of outdoor water containers and documentation related to euthanasia records — and said the city accepts responsibility and is pursuing changes. “The facility received an unsatisfactory result, and we acknowledge the findings in the report,” the operations superintendent said when reading the city’s statement.

The statement said the city has already taken multiple corrective steps, including replacing plastic water pails with metal containers, ordering sealed food-storage containers, strengthening internal recordkeeping procedures and ensuring veterinary-care documentation is properly maintained. The city also said an employee connected to several documentation deficiencies is no longer employed at the shelter and that, “out of an abundance of caution,” the city immediately suspended all in-house euthanasia after receiving the inspection report.

Board members pressed staff about euthanasia practice and documentation. A board member asked whether animals were sedated before euthanasia and whether that sedation had been recorded. The operations superintendent responded that the shelter’s contracted veterinarian had trained staff and that sedation (including ketamine) was administered, but the recordkeeping system had not consistently logged the sedative amounts the state now expects to see: “We were sedating that animal. It was just not being inputted on our end, and that's part of the recordkeeping,” staff said.

Several public speakers urged greater transparency and questioned the shelter’s practices. Michelle Timpson, a member of the public, criticized what she described as a “heart stick” method if performed on conscious animals, calling it a welfare concern: “The heart stick procedures when performed on a conscious animal raises profound welfare concerns,” she said.

City staff told the board that KDA had indicated the state is reviewing euthanasia compliance expectations across multiple shelters; staff also said the Kansas Pet Animal Act does not centrally list every training requirement and that some standards are found across multiple guidance documents. Board members and staff discussed options including better documentation, additional staff training, and exploring whether a part-time or on-call veterinarian should be retained or hired to oversee euthanasia and related medical procedures.

The board passed a motion to begin producing periodic euthanasia reports for the advisory committee to improve transparency, and staff said they will investigate improved documentation practices and whether more on-site veterinary oversight is feasible. The city framed the suspension of in-house euthanasia as a temporary step while corrective measures are completed and aligned with KDA expectations.

What happens next: staff said they will continue corrective work, engage veterinary partners and the KDA as needed, and return to the board with updates. The suspension of in-house euthanasia will remain in place while the shelter refines its training and recordkeeping practices.