Multnomah County’s long-troubled animal shelter improved pet care, record keeping, but still has more work to do, auditors say

Multnomah County’s long-troubled Troutdale animal shelter has finally shown some signs of improvement, according to a new report released by county auditors Monday.

While the progress is promising, the shelter still hasn’t fully implemented recommendations that county auditors first implored it to adopt in a scathing report eight years ago.

Monday’s audit also raised a new concern: The shelter has been adopting pets that haven’t been spayed or neutered, a practice that has alarmed animal advocates.

“I’m pleased to see the improvements that have taken place at Animal Services,” county Auditor Jennifer McGuirk said. “But it’s really critical that they implement the rest of the recommendations as soon as possible — they’ve had quite a long time to do it.”

Monday’s report marks the latest evaluation of the heavily-scrutinized shelter that volunteers, staff and the auditor’s office began raising concerns about at least as far back as 2016. Auditors issued a total of 15 recommendations to the Animal Services division across a 2016 report and a follow-up audit in 2018.

Eight of those recommendations have been implemented, while seven others are still in process, the new report shows.

County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who vowed shortly after taking office to improve the animal shelter, said in a statement that she had few disagreements with the auditor’s most recent assessment. That varies from another auditor’s report issued earlier this month, which focused on the shelter’s spending and drew pushback from county officials.

In response to Monday’s audit, Vega Pederson said she was pleased with the amount of progress that’s taken place at the shelter since she took office.

“This timely assessment provides us an opportunity to see how far (Multnomah County Animal Services) has come in a short amount of time,” she wrote.

Where the animal shelter has improved

Auditors have repeatedly raised major concerns about safety, animal care and record keeping at the shelter. But the latest audit found the shelter had strides across the board.

McGuirk highlighted the addition of new animal enrichment programs, which are designed to provide social and mental stimulation for dogs and cats while they are in the stressful shelter environment. That includes providing animals with toys and ensuring dogs have access to walks and play groups, among other things.

Animal Services also established parameters for when it’s safe for an animal to be adopted, sent to a foster home or transferred to another organization based on their behavioral and health screenings. Auditors reviewed transfer and adoption records and found that dogs with health or behavioral issues that were sent to foster homes or other organizations did not have “severe or multiple bite incidents.”

Auditors found that shelter staff are also now recording mandatory information about animals in the shelter’s databases, manually reviewing animal records for inaccuracies and more accurately documenting when animals are euthanized. The shelter has also made more data available to the public, at the request of auditors.

What still needs work

Despite the progress, Animal Services still has more work to do, auditors said.

Auditors said county code requires that the shelter take all animals, but that it is only accepting sick and injured cats. Some people have reported that it has declined to take stray cats they found, even ones that were unhealthy, auditors said. The shelter has added more foster home capacity for cats, according to the report, but not enough.

McGuirk said if the shelter is going to continue to turn cats away, it needs to change county code.

“If they don’t want to be taking all cats from county residents, the first step would be to change the code and to have a good reason to change it,” she said.

Vega Pederson disputed that assessment. She said county code does not require the shelter to take healthy stray cats. In her response, she said the code refers specifically to impoundments, which trigger when an animal is sick from mistreatment or neglect or was ordered by a judge, hearings officer or the director of Animal Services to be held at the shelter.

County officials have attributed many of the shelter’s woes to chronic understaffing, which is a problem they’re trying to address. The division added 10 new positions last year and secured funding for four more staff members this year, according to budget documents.

A lack of staff and volunteers makes it hard for the shelter to hit national guidelines on staffing, auditors wrote. While staff hours were adequate in May, they faltered as more animals arrived in June, the report said.

While auditors noted improvements in record keeping, they said shelter staff still weren’t always documenting concerning behavior in dogs and cats and reporting those concerns to new owners. Some staff were hesitant to enter information about an animal if they thought it could lead to euthanasia, the report said. Employees also told auditors that they did not always have time to enter updated information.

In a survey sent to those who adopted a pet from the shelter from March 1, 2023, through Feb. 29, 2024, a small portion of people confirmed their animals had a behavioral issue. Of those, 39% claimed they were never told about their pet’s problems.

Vega Pederson said that some animals are at the shelter for a short time and exposed to a stressful environment, which could impact their behavior. She wrote that some issues may not have cropped up during the animal’s stay.

New recommendation on old problem

The 15-page report ended with one new recommendation to add to the list: spay and neuter all eligible animals prior to adoption.

As it stands now, the Troutdale shelter does not spay or neuter every animal leaving the shelter and instead hands out vouchers for adopters to do so at an outside veterinary care facility. That practice started in 2022 due to staff shortages and goes against national standards set by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians.

Auditors said that Animal Services does not follow up with pet owners who received the vouchers to make sure they use them. In another survey over the same period, just under half of those who adopted a pet from the shelter said their animal was spayed or neutered before adoption. Of those who adopted an unaltered pet, 68% said they redeemed their voucher.

In a separate report issued Aug. 9, McGuirk’s office said the shelter was misusing donations meant to supplement spay and neuter surgeries “for pet owners in financial need” by using some of that funding to hand out spay and neuter vouchers to adopters.

In Monday’s report, county auditors gave the division until March 1, 2025, to make sure all animals are spayed or neutered before adoption.

— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744, [email protected] or @AustinDeDios.

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