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Riverton council presses for animal-shelter fixes, moves to form a stakeholder task force
Summary
After public comment and testimony from PAUSE for Life, Riverton council members agreed to pursue a small stakeholder task force to address shelter capacity, unpaid veterinary bills and accounting problems at the nonprofit that houses city-impounded animals.
Riverton’s City Council spent the bulk of its April 21 meeting focused on a longstanding problem: where the city’s impounded animals go when there is no space at the local shelter.
Mayor Tim Hancock said the city has a legal duty to seize animals at large and make sure they are held safely, but that obligation is strained when the local nonprofit shelter lacks space or capacity. “Our obligation as the city of Riverton under our ordinances, we are required to impound animals that are at large,” Hancock said, adding that the city has to ensure those animals have somewhere to be held.
Council members, shelter representatives and the animal-control officer described a multi-year problem of overcrowding, mounting veterinary bills and bookkeeping shortcomings at PAUSE for Life (PAUSE), which serves Riverton and the surrounding county. PAUSE director Mr. Slack called the situation “a systemic failure on multiple sides,” and said the organization is working to address the problems.
Councilwoman Karen Johnson, who has been working closely with PAUSE volunteers and staff, urged immediate oversight and remediation. She told the council she and PAUSE interim staff had reviewed recent financial records and found inconsistent accounting categories and unpaid vet bills that had accrued interest. “There are still some major errors that we can identify,” Johnson said, noting the shelter has hired a new accountant and that work to clean up records is underway.
PAUSE representatives acknowledged the difficulties. Ashley Solen, a point person in recent weeks, told the council the nonprofit had released its prior bookkeeper and “we've hired a new accountant and I actually have a meeting with them tomorrow morning at 9:30 to say here this is a mess and we need to figure this out,” she said.
Council members expressed reluctance to take over PAUSE’s operations — the shelter is a private 501(c)(3) — but said taxpayer funds and the city’s legal duty to impound animals make joint action necessary. Councilman Mike Bailey and others emphasized the narrow civic obligation: the city must be able to seize and house animals that present public-safety risks.
To address the problem the council asked staff to draft a resolution creating a small, nimble stakeholder task force made up of city representatives, PAUSE board/staff, Riverton Police Department/animal control, veterinary representation and a small number of at-large community members. The objective is to quantify shelter space needs, scope capital or operational investments, identify short-term solutions for impounds (kennel availability for potentially vicious animals, triage and emergency care) and to remediate financial management practices at PAUSE so that public funds can be reliably accounted for.
Council members stressed the group should be limited in size and timeline: initial work will be to inventory needs and return to the council with a recommended plan and estimated costs. Mayor Hancock said he favors the committee approach in part because it could produce specific, fundable options rather than recurring ad-hoc funding requests.
PAUSE board representatives said they welcome the partnership. The council did not adopt a formal, binding funding package at the meeting; instead it asked staff to prepare a resolution establishing the task force and return it for formal action at a future meeting. Council members indicated they would revisit the matter after the task force reports, and at least one council member requested a six-month follow-up to monitor progress.
The council’s public discussion also highlighted roots of the problem: insufficient spay/neuter rates, community demand that exceeds shelter capacity, the difficulty of hiring or funding a dedicated accountant for a volunteer nonprofit, and ongoing unpaid vendor/veterinary obligations that increase carrying costs for PAUSE. The council’s immediate next step is a staff-prepared resolution to create the stakeholder task force and a request that PAUSE and police identify immediate operational priorities for impounding animals.
The conversation ended with the council encouraging continued public involvement, adoption and donations as key parts of any long-term solution. The council will consider the formal resolution establishing the task force at a subsequent meeting.
