The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has for years had a partnership with the Verde Valley Humane Society to assist with animal control. In January, that partnership briefly halted as the county could not come to an agreement with VVHS in time for a deadline. Late last year, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors voted to contract instead with Danza Del Sol, a small veterinary hospital in Cottonwood, effective Jan. 11.
However, after several weeks of discussions, YCSO has brokered an agreement, which the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve atits meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 3. “We’re really thrilled, honestly,” VVHS Board President Victoria Bresnan said. “It’s not just for us, for VVHS. It’s for the people in this community. They’ve come to trust and rely on us to take really excellent care of their animals and all the animals in our care, so for us to not be part of it, itjust didn’t feel right.”
The contract stipulates that the YCSO will pay the Humane Society $25,472 for the remainder of the fiscal year for duties including “to receive and care for unwanted dogs and cats and stray dogs brought to the facility by the county’s animal control officers or stray dogs brought to the facility by county residents.”
According to Bresnan, the new contract requires certain additional duties from the VVHS at the behest of YCSO, including licensing for pet owners, and an increase in spay and neuter drives for feral cats and dogs.
“They really thought it was important that we provide licensing for the community, so we’re doing that,” Bresnan said.
Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes praised the agreement, and the VVHS, saying that the delay was mostly a function of the transition into a new county administration, including Rhodes being elected as sheriff and two new county supervisors from the Verde Valley.
“Verde Valley Humane Society has been such a long-term partner, and they provide such a valuable service to the community,” Rhodes said. “We’ve worked with them for so long. I think it was a casualty of transitioning. That was one of our top priorities — to get that contract online and back in place with terms that were palatable to everybody. It’s a tremendous service and animal control is a priority.”
Both Rhodes and Bresnan praised District 3 County Supervisor Donna Michaels as being instrumental in bringing the parties together to hash out the issues and come to an agreement.
“What I saw were two community leaders very willing to take on the conversation to make sure that the contract was a mutually agreeable one,” Michaels said. “They both had a shared vision for [the community]. I think at the end of the day, that’s my job.”
Correction: The print version of this story erroneously stated that the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office will pay the Verde Valley Humane Society $25,472 monthly for services provided. However, the $25,472 is the total one-time payment by YCSO to the shelter through the end of the fiscal year on Wednesday, June 30, not a recurring monthly payment.
