Edmonton's animal care centre to get $3.34M next year to fill 'deep need,' city council votes

The City of Edmonton's animal welfare centre is poised to get a big financial boost to deal with an ever-increasing number of stray, lost or unwanted animals. 

Council agreed to increase the budget for the Animal Care and Control Centre (ACCC) by $3.34 million next year and $560,000 in 2024. 

Coun. Erin Rutherford proposed an increase to the operating budget during 2023-26 budget deliberations on Thursday at city hall.

"The demand is increasing," she said. "The system is stressed." 

The centre took over animal care duties in the provincial Animal Protection Act after the Edmonton Humane Society abandoned the contract in early 2019. 

At the time, the society said it didn't have the money to meet new provincial requirements under the act. 

Jennifer Flaman, deputy city manager of community services, said the ACCC still collaborates on a regular basis with the Humane Society. 

"The sheer volume is overwhelming both organizations," Flaman told council. "While there's been collaboration, there's just deep need."

• Edmonton's Animal Care and Control Centre halts intakes for healthy animals
• City to take over animal protection duties from Edmonton Humane Society

Since the centre assumed the Animal Protection Act duties, it hasn't been adequately resourced, Rutherford noted. 

David Jones, manager of the city's community standards and neighbourhoods branch, said the ACCC was set up as a short-term shelter situation. 

The new funding will staff 28 positions to help with prolonged stays and medical care, Jones said.

The positions include front-line animal control and protection officers and kennel-care attendants, registered veterinary technicians and administrative staff, Jones said. 

Iguanas, snakes and budgies

The funding will also go toward upgrading the facility to deal with more and new kinds of animals they didn't have before. 

The centre was built for stray dogs and stray cats, Jones said. 

"Now we have iguanas and budgies and all kinds of different animals," Jones said.  

"When we have a snake come in, we don't necessarily have a snake enclosure or the appropriate way to regulate the temperature." 

He said the staff has to run out and get de-facto equipment like heat lamps when tropical animals come into the centre. 

ACCC's website notes it houses more than 6,000 lost pets found in Edmonton each year. 

It has a 2,120 square feet building that holds up to 84 cats and 47 dogs comfortably, according to capacity for care. 

Rutherford noted the added issue of the COVID-19 pandemic pet buying trend.

"There's also a problem now with pandemic pets where there's an increase in [an] uptick in pets being given back because the owners have decided they can no longer care for them," she said.

City's role questioned

"We're the only municipality in Canada that does the animal-protection act work," Jones told council. "Usually it's the humane societies of the city or the area." 

Several councillors questioned whether the city should assume the role on an ongoing basis. 

With an already projected five per cent property tax increase as of Thursday afternoon, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and councillors Anne Stevenson, Michael Janz, Jo-Anne Wright, Aaron Paquette and Ashley Salvador voted against the amendment. 

Rutherford won the majority of her colleagues as they voted on the amendment. 

"I can't imagine talking to many of my residents, the residents in Ward Anirniq or Edmontonians as a whole and saying 'are you ok with animals not getting proper care if it means there's no tax increase?'"