Running an animal shelter isn’t cheap, but someone has to do it.
Julie Dreyfuss, executive director of the La Plata County Humane Society, explained the breadth of services the Humane Society provides – responsibilities that would fall to the city without the Humane Society’s support – at a city budget retreat earlier this month.
The Humane Society, which provides a number of services related to sheltering animals for the city of Durango and La Plata County, is requesting increased funding from the city for next year.
The city currently contributes $200,000 per year to the Humane Society, which is requesting a total of $359,000 for 2026. La Plata County contributes about $400,000 annually, although Dreyfuss said she expects to receive less funding next year.
She said the town of Ignacio and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, from which the Humane Society receives about a dozen pets annually, pays for services on a case-by-case basis.
To make her case, Dreyfuss outlined the services the Humane Society provides and the associated costs. She said the city charter requires the city to have an animal shelter – it is not an optional feature.
“I want you to imagine your favorite cat, dog or kangaroo – because we are Durango – snuggling you during this presentation. I am here to represent those vulnerable cats and dogs and kangaroos in our community today,” she said.
She said the Humane Society has operated successfully in La Plata County for 50 years. Ninety-nine percent of adoptions are successful, whereas the successful adoption rate countrywide is 80%.
The Humane Society is nationally recognized for its low euthanasia rate, and it has won Nonprofit of the Year in the Best of Durango for the past 10 years.
It costs the Humane Society $1.7 million to run the shelter every year. It only earns about $350,000 from shelter services. The city and the county help it pay the difference, she said.
“Investing in the Humane Society is a very good use of taxpayer dollars, and I think it would actually cost more for a municipal shelter for what we’re doing,” Dreyfuss said.
It would cost the city an estimated $1 million if it were to build its own municipal shelter, she said. The Humane Society’s existing facility is valued at about $3 million. The shelter houses about 150 cats and dogs.
Dreyfuss said the city likely couldn’t afford $700,000 in expenses plus $1 million to build a shelter, which would mean the city would have to euthanize more pets – euthanization is typically how municipal shelters manage their pet populations.
If the city doesn’t fund the Humane Society at a sustainable level, she said, the Humane Society will make it on its own for a time, but eventually, it will run out of savings and its responsibilities will fall upon the city.
She showed City Council and staff a picture of Amelia, a dog that was starved and abused, lying down. She said the Humane Society spent months giving Amelia food, love and foster care and rehabilitating her to the point she could be adopted. Amelia is now living in a happy home in Durango.
“I really appreciate all the work the Humane Society’s been doing,” Councilperson Kip Koso said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
