The Griffin Pond Animal Shelter ended its service in Carbondale last month after city council declined an agreement with the shelter to contribute to the cost of caring for animals brought in by the city.
In an April 10 letter to Mayor Michele Bannon obtained by The Times-Tribune, Griffin Pond Executive Director Ashley Wolo Ottaviani and Finance Committee Chairman David Bulzoni asked Carbondale to contribute $17,000 by June 30 in order for the shelter in South Abington Twp. to continue providing services in the city. Griffin Pond, which is the only shelter in Lackawanna County with enforcement responsibilities, calculates the figure based on the previous year’s animal care statistics and expenses related to serving animals from Carbondale. Griffin Pond determined the actual cost for pets in Carbondale was $31,257.17 in 2023. The shelter asked for $9,500 based on $250 per pet for 38 pets brought in by Carbondale in 2023, plus a $7,500 base cost.
“For survival, the Shelter will need to rely on mutually beneficial relationships with local governments throughout Lackawanna County. These relationships are mutually beneficial because the Shelter provides a service to each municipality in Lackawanna County and its residents,” Wolo Ottaviani and Bulzoni wrote. “In addition to providing care for unwanted pets, the Shelter, through its enforcement responsibilities, investigates, helps prosecute, and works to prevent cruelty to animals, while also promoting adoption awareness and responsible pet ownership. The Shelter responds to hoarding situations and provides compassionate care to those many pets subject to these situations. These are vital services for any local government.”
Griffin Pond stopped serving Carbondale on July 1.
Wolo Ottaviani said by phone Friday the $17,000 figure was not set in stone. It was to give insight into the costs associated with the care of animals, whether that’s intake costs like vaccines and medical care, spaying and neutering, utilities, food or daily care, she said.
“We’re still open to this very day to developing some sort of relationship and negotiating,” she said. “Hopefully developing something to be able to move forward and to continue offering our services to the city.”
Griffin Pond did not expect Carbondale to cover the entire amount owed but rather to engage in a discussion and reach an agreement regarding funding support moving forward, she said.
The shelter cares for approximately 200 animals per day and averaged an intake of 1,115 animals per year from 2021 to 2023, according to the letter.
The letter cites significant annual net operating losses at the shelter, with decreases in net assets of $778,309 in 2021, $789,960 in 2022 and $438,254 in 2023; 2023 was only reduced because of a $200,000 contribution from the county. Griffin Pond had to draw from its trust fund to be sustainable, according to the letter.
Bannon said Friday she had brought the letter to council because, as mayor, she cannot enter contracts without council.
“Council said they didn’t have a taste to be able to enter into that agreement,” she said.
Asked about reviving talks with Griffin Pond, Bannon said she would have to talk to council members.
“We highly support anybody who does anything for Griffin Pond,” she said.
Without Griffin Pond, Carbondale has to change how it handles animals, Bannon said.
“Griffin Pond provides an invaluable service to the area,” she said. “But what we do is, we take a proactive approach internally.”
For example, when the city found a loose dog Thursday, they posted pictures and information across multiple social media accounts and received a call from the owner within minutes, she said.
The city recently had an issue with 14 cats in a city home, and Bannon said it’s the family’s responsibility to either find homes for the cats or to pay Griffin Pond’s fee to surrender animals.
“The onus is on the actual person who owns the animals to have them find the appropriate housing for them,” Bannon said.
Bannon said the Carbondale Police Department is also very animal friendly, and the officers love animals.
“We exhaust all the means we have to be able to get them safely into a home that’s caring and loving for them,” she said. “We’re challenged by a lot around here — and financially is one of them — but we always think outside the box, make sure that everybody’s taken care of and no man gets left behind — and dog and cat.”
At the end of the day, Griffin Pond wants to do right by the animals and do everything they can for every animal they encounter, Wolo Ottaviani said.
“But what we need everyone to understand is just that there are costs associated with doing things like this,” she said. “We care about our community. We care about the animals in our community, and we want to be able to keep our doors open and continue offering these services, and to be able to continue saving the lives of these animals that really, really need us, but we need the support from our municipalities.”