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The State of Animal Services & Safety in Davenport

Introduction

The Humane Society of Scott County has entered contract negotiations with the city of Davenport in an effort to receive the appropriate payment for the services they have asked us to provide their citizens. As a nonprofit organization, we have a responsibility to you, our supporters, to make good use of every dollar you give. We believe that your support should not be used to subsidize a city government’s budget, but instead should be put toward innovative and lifesaving programs.


Providing care for over 3,000 animals every year and animal control services for 100,000 Davenport residents is no small financial feat. Local governments have a duty to provide these services for their constituents. HSSC has been honored to provide these services for decades, however without proper compensation for the services this organization provides the city of Davenport's government, HSSC will no longer be able to provide these vital public safety services to its citizens.


If you find animal control to be a vital public safety service and want there to be a safe place for lost, injured, ill, and dangerous animals to go, ensure your Davenport city council members know that you want to see the Humane Society of Scott County continue to service the animal control and sheltering contract, but at the appropriate payment rate. The Humane Society of Scott County is currently receiving less than half of the national average per capita rate for their services provided for the city.


We believe the public deserves transparency. On this page, you will find further background and information on the services we currently provide, the cost of those services, and industry benchmarks.


HSSC Executive Director, Erika Gunn, would love to talk if you have further questions or want to learn more about the services provided by HSSC. Email Erika at egunn@hssc.us to schedule a time for an in-person discussion or phone call.


Thank you for all of the support you provide to the animals in our care!

Our Work In Action

Claude's Story

This is Claude, who came in missing a significant amount of fur on his body. He was clearly uncomfortable and ended up being diagnosed with mange. We figured out a treatment plan with our veterinarian and had an amazing foster step up to take him in while he healed. 


With antibiotics, baths, proper housing and food, and of course a lot of love, Claude’s fur has been able to completely grow back! This second picture was taken just a few weeks after he came to us and began treatment.


This is the kind of lifesaving care we provide every day. Currently, our contract with the City of Davenport covers less than 30% of these costs. Unless we receive the correct compensation for these services, we will be unable to continue.


If you believe our community deserves adequately funded animal services, contact your city council representative, and read on to learn more.

Questions and Answers

What services does HSSC provide, and why are they so expensive?

As part of our contracts, we are required to take in every stray animal, sick and injured wildlife, enforce bite quarantines, investigate animal cruelty and neglect, and much more. We care for over 3,000 animals each year! Each animal requires medical care, feeding, and behavior evaluation – not to mention attention, walks, enrichment, and eventually adoption services.


We believe in high-quality care and strive to provide the best services possible - it's what the animals and our community deserve.

Can't you just cut costs?

We work hard to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible - both because it is good stewardship of funds, and because we have no other choice!


The only way to significantly cut costs would be to deny appropriate medical care to animals and reduce staffing for animal care. Both would severely negatively impact the quality of care we provide, which would lead to an even more over-capacity shelter and even more increased costs.


The only other alternative to drastically reduce costs would be to euthanize each animal once its stray hold period (7 days) is over. This would be contrary to our values and our mission. We refuse to do this. Every animal deserves a chance.

Are you a kill shelter or a no-kill shelter?

We are what is called an “open intake” shelter, meaning we don’t have a choice to accept an animal. Most of our local shelters and rescues are “closed intake” or “limited intake”, which means they can choose not to accept an animal for behavior, medical, or capacity reasons. Both "open intake" and "closed intake" shelters and rescues play a vital role in animal care in a community!


We perform euthanasia only under very specific circumstances: 1. The level of medical care the animal requires is extreme or unlikely to produce positive results, or 2. The animal is a significant danger to the public or other animals.



If HSSC no longer provides animal control and sheltering services, who will?

Currently, no other organization exists in our community with the capacity or desire to provide these services.


Citizens would have no place to take lost, injured, ill, or aggressive animals unless city and county governments duplicated all of these services from scratch, generating severely increased costs in the government's budget. Likewise, enforcement activities supported by HSSC's officers (such as ordinance enforcement and investigation of animal cruelty) would not be provided.

Can't HSSC just raise more money through donations?

We raise hundreds of thousands a year as a nonprofit organization in order to provide lifesaving care and innovative programs. Our donors and supporters are absolutely amazing, and we could never thank them enough for all they make possible here. They help us go above and beyond!


However: Our generous supporters and donors should not subsidize the costs of city services. This would be like telling citizens that they are responsible for funding their local police department through private donations if they want that public safety service. 

Our Work In Action

Disaster Response

HSSC is prepared to respond to natural and man-made disasters as a service to our community. Like other disaster-ready organizations, we never know when a need might arise. And, often, when there is a dangerous situation, these services need to be instantly ready to spring into action. There is no time to invent services on the fly in response to a disaster.


In addition to numerous floods over the years, most recently HSSC responded to the downtown Davenport building collapse. Our team collaborated with city government and police, fire, and rescue agencies to coordinate a census of trapped animals. Thanks to the collaboration, our team worked alongside the fire department to rescue every animal that we were notified of.


The Humane Society of the United States took notice of the rescue effort, sharing the story nationwide.


This is the kind of lifesaving care we provide every day. Currently, our contract with the City of Davenport covers less than 30% of these costs. Unless we receive the correct compensation for these services, we will be unable to continue.


If you believe our community deserves adequately funded animal services, contact your city council representative, and read on to learn more.

Financial Benchmarks

HSSC wants to continue helping animals in need in Davenport and our surrounding communities. However, these services are not sustainable without appropriate payment. 

National Benchmarks and Our Current Contract

Per capita costs for animal services:

National average: $9.71* per citizen, per year

Iowa state average: $11.55* per citizen, per year

Davenport per capita paid: $3.95 per citizen, per year

                         *Best Friend's National Animal Society, nationwide study


Current cost to provide services to Davenport: $1,388,445

Current contract fee: $402,000


Davenport’s Annual Budget: $242,534,492

Current percentage of Davenport’s budget: .17%
Asking percentage of Davenport’s budget: .57%


Less than 1% of Davenport’s annual budget is needed to properly pay for the services we provide on their behalf. 


Facility Challenges

While many other comparable cities in Iowa and Illinois spend less per year on animal control services that the national average, many of those cities also build and/or maintain animal care facilities.


HSSC's facility is owned and maintained by HSSC. All utility costs are paid for by HSSC as well. Upkeep and

repairs to the building and equipment inside are costly, especially due to heavy usage from 3,000+

animals served annually due to HSSC's contract service obligations.


HSSC's facility is approximately half of the recommended size for animal intake volumes. HSSC's facility is

8,480 sq ft and located on 1 acre of land. A professional consulting company indicated HSSC's facility should

range from 16,000 to 20,000 sq ft with a minimum of 3 acres of land.


Many years of under-funded services have led to HSSC lacking the funds to invest in a proper facility. Thanks to inadequate funding of animal control services, the facility drives costs higher:

  • Animal Housing: With limited space and out-of-date kennels, cleaning time is vastly multiplied. This leads to higher staffing costs. In addition, the kennels and facility are not designed with animal behavior or psychology in mind. This leads to a shelter experience more likely to cause animals to develop anxiety, stress, and other behavioral issues. As a result, they are less attractive candidates for adoption and spend much longer in the shelter (again driving up costs).
  • Safety: HSSC is often required to house and care for dangerous animals. Due to the kennels and layout of our facility, we have no way to handle animals that is in line with the recommendations of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians. This can cause unsafe situations for our staff and the animals.
  • Overall Space Constraints: The number of animal intakes has drastically increased in recent years. Our facility is not adequately sized to house the 3,000+ animals we care for each year.


Correct compensation is necessary for our continued service to our communities. It is even more important when considering that our organization must make long-term plans for a larger facility (which is currently impossible with severely under-funded services).


How You Can Help

Join your voice with ours!


The Humane Society of Scott County is currently receiving less than half of the national average per capita rate for their services provided for the city. The City of Davenport's current contract with HSSC covers less than 30% of the costs of the services.


While we can provide the facts and figures that highlight the reality of the situation, we need citizens to speak up.


If you believe animal control to be a vital public safety service and want there to be a safe place for lost, injured, ill, and dangerous animals to go, ensure your Davenport city council members know that you want to see the Humane Society of Scott County continue to service the animal control and sheltering contract, and that HSSC deserves the correct compensation for its services.


https://www.davenportiowa.com/government/mayor_council/city_council


Thank you for your support!

Want To Learn More?

HSSC Executive Director, Erika Gunn, would love to talk if you have further questions or want to learn

more about the services provided by HSSC. Email Erika at egunn@hssc.us to schedule a time for an in-person

discussion or phone call.

Letters of Support from our Partners

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Humane Society of Scott County

2802 W Central Park Ave, Davenport IA 52804

563.388.6655

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