hard deadlines

The Potter League, which provides shelter and adoption services for animals from Aquidneck Island, is on the agenda for the the Town Council meeting this evening and they reached out to supporters last week asking for people to show up and support their request for a contribution to their recent facility renovation.

For more than 30 years, the nonprofit Potter League has been a working example of regionalized government service, providing housing and care for strays under contract with the three towns on the Island. Portsmouth pays about $48K, and once our animal control officer drops a critter off, the Potter League handles everything from veterinary services, housing, and attempts to place in a new home, if no owner is found. They backstop the towns in disaster preparedness, sitting in on emergency planning meetings on how to deal with pets during a hurricane. And they provide education and outreach programs in the schools and community.

The problem — and what brings them to the Council — is the cost of renovating their facilities, which were built in the 1970s and needed a complete overhaul to cope with the 2,000 animals they serve each year. While Portsmouth does pay an annual fee for the services of the Potter League, two years ago, they came before the Council to ask for a commitment of $150K, spread over 3 years, to help finance the construction costs on their $7M building; similar requests were made to the other two Councils on the Island. Today, the new Potter League building is operational, but Portsmouth has yet to contribute.

I had the opportunity to tour the new facility and speak with the Executive Director, Christie Smith, and if you haven't been there since the new building opened in November, you should stop by. It used to be a cramped space, with narrow, warren-like kennel rooms and the incessant sound of barking that echoed off mostly concrete construction. When you walk in the door now, what you notice first is the silence. The dog area is right off the lobby, but the combination of plexi walls and larger rooms means less stress (and barking). Cats have windows in each of the kennel rooms, and the overall feeling is cheerier and more welcoming. That translates to less stress, which means animals that are more relaxed. I suspect most people would find this a much more conducive environment for adopting a pet, and I bet the pets feel the same way.

Potter League Executive Director Christie Smith

Q. What services do you provide for Portsmouth?
"On Aquidneck Island, one of the the things the Potter League has done is really push for regionalized services. The government function of animal control, which is part of public heath and safety, we have been supporting that by housing all the animals with contracts with all three towns and we've been doing it for 30 years. That's a pretty remarkable achievement for regionalization when we all talk about it and never can seem to succeed. And this is succeeding, it has succeeded, and it makes total sense. The efficiencies for each town are just astronomical. We're really providing the centralized service. Once animal control deals with the problem in their community, we have the animal and work closely with animal control to make sure that the animal is returned, or adopted, or provided medical care. The town is only required to hold animals under state law for 5 days. If we have it here for three months, after the 5 days, the Potter League has accepted that cost, the veterinary expenses that we might decide are necessary."

Q: Portsmouth accounts for about 20% of the animals you serve and our annual contract outlay is about $48K. How much would it cost if Portsmouth had to do this themselves?
"The number is actually between 20 and 25%. If they were trying to create their own housing, they wouldn't have to do as large a building. Let's look at Bristol. Bristol and Portsmouth would ned somewhat similar sizes. Bristol is looking to build their new shelter at a cost of $2M. If Portsmouth didn't find someone else to subcontract the housing with and their own building would have to be built, let's say a million dollars. There's so many costs you can't avoid, codes that require things you might not think an animal shelter has to have. Bare bones, a million dollars to build. To operate, 365 days a year, staffing? One staff person, working 365 days a year, with salary and benefits, would be more than the $48K Potter League contract."

Q: What do you want people to understand about the Potter League compared to a local, scaled-back approach?
"I would hope that people would be able to see the benefit of regionalization, the cost efficiencies, the efficiency in delivery of service. I hope that people would say, 'My animal is important, and I think that what the Potter League is doing can't be done any better or any cheaper than how its being handled now.' The other part of is it we not just all about the animals, we're all about the people. Our education programs in schools need to be recognized, the financial assistance we provide to pet owners that are struggling, whether it's housing or money for surgeries, all of those things wrap into a full complement of services that you have to recognize you'll never get if you're not doing it through a lager, supported, Potter League."

Q: What would you ask people to do to support this request to the Council?
"I'm asking people to come to the Council meeting and say whatever is on their mind. If our services are great and you love us, say that. I can't decide. You can say what's on your mind, and that's government in action. People who wait in the background and don't get involved are sometimes not happy with the results. You can also contact Council members ahead of time by e-mail or phone, you have to be mindful of their time in the meeting. You can e-mail or call them."

Q: This is a tough year for budgets. What kind of flexibility do you see?
"I know this is a tough year. Regionalization works if everyone participates. Middletown and Newport have participated in the capital fund we have asked for. Middletown is paid and Newport will be paid by September. If Portsmouth had started when we started asking a few years ago, they would be well on their way to being finished in maybe not such a tough economic year. So how do you go forward. You go forward by saying can we commit to this concept, can we commit to making a contribution to this capital drive, and let's sit down and talk about what is a reasonable period to work out the payment part of it. Newport and Middletown have paid theirs over 4 years, so even before the economy was so bad, we were trying to be as fair as we could to the towns. I think we just need to sit down and get beyond the spot that nothing can be done."

Q: Just to be very clear, are you asking for charity?
"There is a precedent for capital investment to prevent the town from making their own capital investment. We have the contract, but the capital investment in infrastructure was done when our old building was built in the '70s, each town contributed equally. When there was some expansion in mid '80s, each town contributed in an equal level toward that. What we're asking for, $150K on a much larger budget, isn't charity, it's enabling the town not to have to build it themselves or find someone else to take all the stray animals that animal control and the public bring in."

Resources:
Potter League web site
Mentioned in USA Today story
Pet Shelters Across America (shelter network)
Previous coverage of capital fund request from March, 2007
Town Council e-mail addresses: pmcintyre@portsmouthri.com, hlittle@portsmouthri.com, dcanario@portsmouthri.com, kgleason@portsmouthri.com, khamilton@portsmouthri.com, jplumb@portsmouthri.com, jseveney@portsmouthri.com

Full Disclosure: It's no secret that I'm a supporter of the Potter League. We have two wonderful cats that we adopted there. And I believe the cost-effectiveness of the services they provide clearly justifies this request to help with their facility. As a town, we ought to be supporting them. If you can show up tonight or drop an e-mail to the Council today, that would be time well spent, and the companion animals of Aquidneck Island will thank you.