City of Albany, Humane Society contract dispute reaches critical point

ALBANY – The city of Albany and the Albany Humane Society are at an impasse, with the animal shelter giving notice in February that it would halt the intake of animals from the government after the city stopped making payments.

When the amount in arrears reached nearly $90,000, covering the months from October through January, the Humane Society notified the city that it would no longer be able to absorb the costs of accepting animals without payment.

The Albany City Commission on Tuesday agreed to catch up on payments and also to work toward reaching a new contract with the organization.

Prior to the withholding of payments, the city had been paying monthly because a new contract had not been signed between the two parties since around 2018. An effort to forge a new contract has been stalled since around 2020, when the commission tabled discussion on the issue.

“As of the date of this correspondence, the city of Albany has an outstanding balance owed to the Humane Society in the amount of $88,790,” the Humane Society’s attorney wrote in a Feb. 26 letter addressed to City Attorney Nathan Davis and Police Chief Michael Persley. “The Humane Society received its last payment from the city in December 2023, which only covered the September 2023 invoice. The city has not voiced an objection to any of the invoices submitted by the Humane Society.”

On the day the correspondence giving notice of the suspension of intakes was sent via email and certified letter, the shelter accepted 14 dogs, according to the letter.

“Due to the lack of financial resources, the Humane Society is no longer able to accept animals and must enforce an immediate suspension of services provided to the city, to include bite cases, special holds, and nuisance animals,” the letter said. “Without funding, the Humane Society is unable to provide proper care and treatment for the animals, and it is unable to meet its financial obligations for employee payroll.”

On Wednesday, City Commissioners Jon Howard and Chad Warbington said it was their understanding that the Humane Society will not resume taking in animals captured by the city’s Animal Control until a contract is signed.

“It’s a big issue, because I get calls all the time about stray dogs and feral cats,” Howard said. “It’s devastating, plus it’s dangerous to the public. We really hope we can come to some type of agreement and we can continue. There’s a lot of animals running loose. I’m comfortable we can work out a deal.”

One of the reasons for putting a pause on negotiations for a new contract was a controversial case involving a vicious attack of an Albany man by two Rottweilers.

At the time, the Humane Society refused to euthanize the two dogs, citing the lack of a court order and potential legal repercussions from the owner of killing them without the approval of Dougherty County Superior Court.

The battle over the dogs’ fate continued into 2021, when many court hearings were postponed due to COVID-19.

As a result of that case, the city toughened its nuisance animal statute to facilitate the euthanization of dangerous animals in a more timely manner. Ultimately the Rottweilers, King and Chloe, were released to live in another state.

That episode seems to have left a lasting impression on Warbington, who previously had stated that he was content to continue with a month-to-month relationship with the Humane Society.

Following the initial attack that nearly killed the victim, Warbington reported to The Herald that one of the female dog’s puppies had bitten a 2-year-old girl.

“That was one of the big stalling points in 2019,” he said on Wednesday of the disagreement over King and Chloe. “I guess I probably was the most vocal. We had a serious safety issue in a neighborhood near where I live involving (those) two dogs.

“They (Humane Society) actually took us all the way to the Superior Court. You just kind of scratch your head. They were willing to go to Superior Court to protect two dogs. They’re in somebody’s neighborhood in North Carolina now.”

Since 2020, the contract has been broached once in a commission session, but was not an official agenda item for discussion at that time, Warbington said of the issue. City staff alerted the commission to the lack of a contract for animal services provided by the Humane Society and were responsible for halting payments.

“We really could have said no and refused to pay them, but we wanted to be a good customer and pay what we owed,” the commissioner said. “I applaud staff for looking after the best interests of the city.”

While animal control is unable to house animals in Albany, it has been taking them to other area facilities, including Lee County and Sylvester, the commissioner said.

The staff recommendation for approving a new contract stated it was “(the) only service provider who can sustain the capacity of animals we capture.”

However, Warbington said that if necessary the city can manage.

“We’re still going to provide the (animal control) services to the city, we just may take them to a different shelter,” he said. “We’ve got numerous options to detain and house animals that need to be removed.

“The preferred source is the (Albany) Humane Society. I believe the Humane Society does a great job. It’s a high priority for us to get something worked out. While we work out this contract stuff, we’ll figure that out.”

File Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]