Animal shelter manager asks supervisors to unfreeze staff position, citing coverage and burnout

Annette Dodson, manager of the Madison County Animal Shelter, asked the Board of Supervisors to unfreeze a second part‑time kennel position and to reclassify the shelter manager position to a higher pay grade to reflect the position's working‑manager duties.

Dodson told the board the shelter has operated for more than a year with one full‑time and one part‑time employee, which strains coverage during busy intake periods ("puppy season") and on holidays when the shelter remains open. "The shelter does not have a close day," she said, noting there are days the shelter is staffed by a single person while the public is served.

Under the proposal, the board would authorize a kennel‑assistant‑two role (senior part‑time, 16 hours weekly) to handle intakes, paperwork and adoptions, while an entry‑level kennel assistant would cover feeding and cleaning duties; Dodson said the change helps distribute workload and reduce burnout. County staff estimated the combined cost of the new part‑time position and related FICA at about $15,000 in FY27.

Deputy county staff and human resources recommended regrading the shelter manager from its current grade to align with similar county working managers (facilities manager, parks manager). That change would place the manager at the minimum of the higher grade, per the county's compensation plan; board members discussed benchmarking and the county's need to retain personnel in historically hard‑to‑fill positions.

The board did not make a final vote at the session; the animal‑shelter requests will be included in the March 19 work session decisions about position approvals and outside‑agency funding.