Moses Lake boosts funding for GCAO

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Animal Outreach will receive additional funding for 2024 from the city of Moses Lake and will get an increase in its funding from the city in 2025 and 2026. The additional money for 2025 was included in the budget passed by the Moses Lake City Council on Dec. 10. 

Most of GCAO’s funding comes from Grant County and the city of Moses Lake, and Animal Outreach board President Sara Thompson Tweedy said requests for additional funding were made to both. 

GCAO asked for an extra $70,000 from the city for 2024 and for an increase in the city’s contract for 2025. The contract with the city was for $100,000, and GCAO asked that amount be increased to $181,000. Both requests were approved as part of the city’s 2025 budget process. The money will be allocated from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds. 

Tweedy said the extra funding for 2024 will allow the shelter to pay off its outstanding veterinary and food bills, among other expenses. 

“It keeps us operating,” Tweedy said. “We’ll be able to pay our bills.” 

The additional funding for 2025 will allow GCAO to stay in operation, she said, but not to expand. 

“The increases that we asked for were simply to keep us open and meeting as much the demand,” Tweedy said.  

Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz said the extra funding will help keep the shelter in operation while its administrators work to determine how to proceed. 

Tweedy expressed gratitude to city and county officials for their help in keeping GCAO running. 

“They have been willing to listen and understand and put resources toward the problem,” she said.  

The number of animals going to the shelter has increased, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, Tweedy told the Moses Lake City Council in November. She estimated the shelter averages about 100 dogs.  

“That seems to be the new normal for us. And I’m hoping that will change,” she said. 

One of the options for the future is a new shelter, and Swartz said city and county officials are working on that.  

“We’re trying to figure out how to get a facility built for them,” Swartz said. “We’re working cooperatively (with county officials) to resolve that issue.”  

The existing facility is old and in poor repair, Tweedy said in earlier interviews. County and city officials each have pledged up to $1 million toward the construction of a new shelter and about $500,000 has been raised through other sources. The project is on hold due to confusion about some of the work rules.  

How the building project proceeds will depend on the answer to the work rules questions, Tweedy said.  

Swartz said the funding is only a temporary solution for a bigger problem – how to take care of animals that are mistreated, abandoned or surrendered.  

“I think that’s a larger discussion,” he said.  

Tweedy agreed and said from her perspective part of the problem is pet owners who don’t understand the demands of caring for an animal. 

Spaying and neutering is key to reducing animal populations, she said, but not everyone knows how important it is, and not all pet owners can afford it. There is a good response for GCAO microchipping clinics, where the service is provided at a reduced cost. Tweedy said she thought GCAO would receive support for a spay and neuter or vaccination clinic. 

People also buy a dog or cat because it’s a popular breed, she said, without knowing the care requirements. Those may turn out to be more than a pet owner can handle. In addition, prospective pet owners sometimes don’t think of adopting from a shelter as an option.  

“There are so many factors,” she said.