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Cheyenne Animal Shelter Closing Drop Boxes

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – February 13, 2019 – Based on recommendations from an external audit conducted by an animal behavior specialist and animal shelter consultant, Cheyenne Animal Shelter will end the use of drop boxes, which allow people to drop off stray animals when no employees are present. The Shelter will eliminate the drop boxes effective March 15^th.  Additionally, the Animal Control division will have an officer on call after hours to pick up lost, injured or aggressive animals.

In 2018, the Cheyenne City Council and Mayor Orr asked the Board to conduct an external review of the Shelter’s policies and procedures. The review cited concerns from Sheltervet.org, ASPCA and others that drop boxes could negatively impact the welfare of the animal being abandoned.

“We believe that this is an important step, and it’s one of several that we’ll be taking in the next few months based on the recommendations we received from this audit,” said CAS Board Chair Tammy Maas.

When the Shelter first opened, Board members worried that people would leave abandoned pets outside the building without food, water or shelter. Drop boxes complete with heat and air conditioning were built to allow people to drop off pets safely. Now the trend in shelters is to eliminate drop boxes because they make it difficult for employees to get information about the abandoned animals and they could cause undue stress for injured pets.  

In addition to being stressful for the animals, the boxes can also create safety concerns for shelter staff. It’s common for staff to find everything from snakes to aggressive dogs, feral cats, rabbits and other critters in the drop boxes when they arrive at work in the next morning.

In 2018 there were 588 animals left in the drop boxes. They included 525 stray animals picked up by the public and 63 pets that were surrendered by their owners. There were 307 animals that had no paperwork, leaving Shelter employees in the dark regarding the animal’s demeanor, medical history, or owner.

The Shelter hopes that closing the drop boxes will give pet owners the chance to talk with staff about  alternative options that could help keep more pets in their homes.

The Shelter will also be altering their hours for accepting animals to open earlier at 8 AM and close at 6 PM. The public can call Animal Control any time for emergencies such as animals with life-threating medical conditions or severe aggression. Cheyenne Animal Shelter reminds the public that abandoning or abusing animals is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of $750 and up to 6 months in jail. All suspected cases of abandonment will be investigated by Animal Control.

About Cheyenne Animal Shelter

The Cheyenne Animal Shelter was founded nearly 45 years ago by a concerned group of local citizens eager to provide animal welfare services to the homeless and unwanted animals in the community.  Each year, the Shelter cares for over 6,000 pets including puppies and kittens, cats and dogs, rabbits, birds and a variety of other critters.  To learn more visit: https://www.cheyenneanimalshelter.org 

Cheyenne Animal Shelter Releases External Audit of
Policies and Procedures

Recently the City of Cheyenne City Council and Mayor tasked the Cheyenne Animal Shelter Board of Directors to have an external animal sheltering professional review of the Shelter’s operating procedures.

Trish McMillan with Loehr Animal Behavior, based in North Carolina, came to Cheyenne in early December 2018 to visit the Cheyenne Animal Shelter and review its current policies and procedures. She set forth goals for the Shelter and proposed a variety of ideas to streamline its behavior programs, which are detailed in her final audit report.

The Shelter can implement some of the changes at little or no cost, and staff is currently working on standard operating procedures to update employees on the new systems before they take effect. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing information via social media and our website to notify the public of the changes that are being made to improve animal placement and quality of life for animals.

McMillan holds a Master of Science degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter in England. Her business, Loehr Animal Behavior, specializes in personalized training and behavior modification plans for dogs, cats, and horses. She worked for the ASPCA in a variety of roles for more than seven years, doing shelter work, writing and research. She also performed evaluations and did behavior work with animals from dogfighting and hoarding cases. Before working for the ASPCA, Trish trained and showed horses in a variety of disciplines, managed dog daycares, worked with shelter animals, taught obedience classes, and took in board-and-train dogs. She currently does some contract work with Dogs Playing for Life.

The Cheyenne Animal Shelter’s audit report may be viewed here.