KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Faced with costs that it can't cover under its animal services contract with the city of Clearlake, the SPCA of Clear Lake has notified the city that it is terminating the agreement.

The city is now considering its options, from renegotiating a new contract with the SPCA – which so far it hasn't moved to do – or finding an alternative, including going back to Lake County Animal Care and Control for services, which it stopped doing in 2009 due to its financial issues.

SPCA Board member Brenda Crandall said she delivered the news on June 30 to new City Manager Greg Folsom, a day after the SPCA Board made the decision. The contract now ends effective Oct. 1.

Crandall said the SPCA can’t remain financially viable with the city contract. “We are looking at the coming train,” and trying to make decisions in the organization’s best interests.

She estimated that the SPCA – in its current situation under the city contract – can’t continue for more than four to six more months.

According to the terms of the contract that SPCA and the city signed in October 2013, either side may terminate the contract with a 90-day notice.

That contract gives SPCA $20,000 annually to cover Clearlake's burgeoning animal needs, which Crandall and SPCA Executive Director Mary Jane Montana said doesn't even cover the food costs of the animals – dogs, cats and, occasionally, livestock – that it houses, much less the other costs the organization incurs in taking an unlimited number of animals from the city.

At the same time, Crandall and Montana say the SPCA has to do some serious assessments about its future and whether it can return to its original mission of rescue and public education once the Clearlake contract is finished, or if its financial challenges can't be overcome.

Montana and Crandall emphasized that, when the contract ends, all of the animals that remain at the SPCA from the Clearlake contract will stay in its care, with the organization dedicated to finding them homes.

The development is the latest in a series of challenges the SPCA has faced over the last few years as it's undergone a complete change in leadership – both at the executive director and board level – and attempted to fulfill the contract with the city of Clearlake.

The SPCA also over the past month has faced heavy criticism from a former staffer who faulted operations and accused the leadership of not doing enough to address issues like overcrowding.

On Thursday, Folsom said he’s met with the county to get some preliminary information from them regarding the services they could provide, and also has met with the Animal Coalition regarding its interest in partnering with the city on a long-term solution for animal services. He said he’s asked that group for a proposal. 

“We have also been investigating available properties and ballpark costs to construct a city facility,” he said.

Folsom said he has not yet had followup discussions with SPCA. “Our plan is to identify and quantify our options and take that to the council for their consideration,” he said. “I do not yet have a target date for doing so, but the sooner the better.”

The history of the relationship

The city ended its contract with Lake County Animal Care and Control in November 2009.

At that time, the city said it couldn't afford the annual bill, which was around $200,000 – or about $16,000 per month – for full services, which included two officers and kennel services, according to Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson, who wasn’t heading the agency when Clearlake ended its contract.

It wasn't meant to be a permanent solution, with the city purchasing a kennel truck and housing animals at a kennel set up at the city's airport, and creating an active adoption program, according to now-retired Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe, whose tenure started in 2011.

In 2013, when the city's financial picture began to improve, it went back into talks with Animal Care and Control. At that time, estimated annual costs were around $144,000, Phillipe said.

The former SPCA executive director, Kathey Crothers, found out about the negotiations and approached the city to put forward SPCA as an option, Phillipe said. The city and SPCA subsequently entered into a contract in October 2013.

The following May, the entire SPCA Board resigned and a new board was elected, with Crothers placed on administrative leave and later terminated. That followed by two months an attempt by that previous board to close the SPCA and hand the nonprofit’s facilities at 8025 Highway 29 in Kelseyville over to the city, an effort which the new board stopped.

The city’s contract pays the SPCA $20,000 annually but does not include field services, which are handled by animal control officers hired by the city through the police department. Phillipe said the SPCA had wanted an extension of time to come back with a proposal to offer field services.

The city’s contract with the SPCA had an August 2014 amendment calling for the SPCA to make a proposal to the city by the end of this past April for complete animal control services through the end of the contract, which that same amendment had extended to the end of June 2016. Negotiations for updating the contract were to have begun next March.

In an effort to create more funding options, last fall the city put a sales tax measure before voters that would have helped fund animal control services, but the measure was defeated.

Crandall said that beginning in January the SPCA Board directed Montana – who had been hired in September – to compile the numbers of animals taken from the city as well as those brought in from the rest of the county in preparation for approaching the city about updating the contract and the annual amount of money for services.

Montana said the numbers showed that of the 1,156 animals that came into the SPCA in 2014, 718 were from Clearlake's animal control officers. The remainder also included separate owner surrenders from Clearlake as well as the rest of the county.

Caring for its load of animals is costing the SPCA well above the $20,000 it receives for services, Montana said.

Montana said the $1,667 a month that SPCA receives from Clearlake – about one-tenth of what the city was paying under its contract with the county on a monthly basis – doesn't even cover food costs for the animals.

Phillipe met with SPCA representatives to discuss the issue of SPCA providing full services in April.

“We told them we weren’t able to provide full service,” said Montana. “That didn’t mesh with our mission of the SPCA nor did we have the resources to ramp up and do that.”

At that point, the SPCA presented the city with the monetary figure they needed to cover all of the services they’re presently providing – which Montana said was about $62,000, or a tripling of the current contract amount.

Crandall said the SPCA was told at the April meeting that Phillipe would take the request for increased contract costs to the city's finance committee and then to the council, at which point the SPCA would be able to discuss it with council members.

Phillipe acknowledged that the SPCA did ask for additional funds. She explained that the city had identified what appeared to be an additional revenue source that the SPCA was receiving through a state-mandated fee. The city asked for that number to be identified, as Phillipe said city officials felt it would offset the increase SPCA was seeking.

She said it took time for that information to come forward. “We were not 100-percent satisfied with the answer that we got back,” Phillipe said, explaining that it was reviewed with city Finance Director Chris Becnel. City officials ultimately felt they needed additional information.

At the same time as it was talking to the city about changes to its agreement, Montana said the SPCA was partnering with Lake County Animal Care and Control to try to recruit a veterinarian who could serve both facilities. Much of the SPCA’s veterinary care has been offered on a voluntary basis by Dr. Glenn Benjamin, a board member who last year temporarily filled in as interim executive director.

Last year, Benjamin performed 1,588 spay or neuter surgeries through the SPCA’s low-cost pet altering program, Montana said.

The SPCA also was looking at expanding the facilities on its nine-acre site, including taking a building that once had been used as a wildlife center and converting it into an intake center, Montana said.

Crandall said the SPCA was shocked when Clearlake’s budget was passed in June with no further discussion with the SPCA about its request. A lack of additional funds also halted the SPCA’s expansion effort, Montana added.

In mid-June, at around the time the budget was being finalized, the city was still waiting for more information from SPCA on the state fee revenue, said Phillipe.

Then, on June 15 Folsom started his new job with the city, working with Phillipe during a two-week transition prior to her retirement going into effect. It was then that the issues with the SPCA “started bubbling up,” said Phillipe.

The city decided to move forward with its budget, as it didn’t have all of the information it was seeking from the SPCA, Phillipe said.

“We anticipated if there was an agreement reached where there were additional monies to be required that it would be addressed at the midyear budget review in terms of amending the document,” she said.

Phillipe added that a new SPCA contract proposal would have gone before the council once the city knew exactly what the new funding proposal would include.

Animal Care and Control investigates situation

In June both the city and Lake County Animal Care and Control began to respond to complaints about conditions – including overcrowding and health of the animals – at SPCA.

Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson said he received a complaint and he and his staff went to investigate it on several occasions.

The main issue, said Davidson, was overcrowding. He said Montana told him that the number of animals the SPCA is receiving from Clearlake is uncontrollable.

“I would have to agree,” said Davidson, adding that the situation has appeared to worsen in recent months.

On June 10, he and one of his officers toured the facility and met with Montana. He said the dogs appeared to be in good shape, but many cats had upper respiratory infections.

The facility at that point was overcrowded, said Davidson, with at least 60 dogs – as many as five in a kennel – and in excess of 100 cats. He encouraged Montana to reduce the dog population to 40, and helped by taking five dogs to his agency.

Davidson also concluded that Montana had a “staffing nightmare” on her hands, with the need for more staff to keep the facility cleaned and running smoothly.

“Unfortunately, the SPCA has turned the corner and is no longer operating as a humane society, but rather as an animal control agency due to the contract with the city. They are required to take in an unlimited number of strays, yet only have a small number of places to house them,” Davidson said.

He continued, “They need to drastically reduce the shelter population and can only do this in several ways: adoptions, transfers, fosters, or euthanasia. Obviously adoptions is the best answer, but with this number of animals it’s not possible.”

Davidson said he wasn’t going to sugarcoat the situation, that SPCA would have to start euthanizing more animals if it was to continue offering services to the city of Clearlake and “maintain their current population under humane conditions.”

As part of his investigation, Davidson said he spoke with current and past employees, and current volunteers. “The main concern for all of them was the same thing,” that SPCA can’t handle the number of animals it’s receiving under the Clearlake contract, Davidson said.

Overall, Davidson said his assessment of SPCA’s situation was that it was in over its head. “I think the city knows that, too.”

He said he advised Montana of the need to control the population and suggested they meet again in 60 days; he’s planning to go back on Aug. 10. Davidson also mailed copies of the findings and the investigation to the city of Clearlake. “So they are aware of it.”

Davidson has continued to offer his assistance. On Tuesday his staff trained three SPCA employees in euthanasia methods.

Montana said the goal was to make it so that the euthanasia responsibility didn’t rest with just one SPCA staffer. Previously, it had been up to the kennel manager alone. “That’s just not fair to her.”

Euthanasia decisions at the SPCA are based on health, age, temperament and shelter space, Montana said.

When Animal Care and Control had Clearlake’s contract, it was euthanizing a lot more animals, said Davidson.

“Clearlake is more or less out of control with regards to their animal population and no programs or funding have really been created to deal with the problem. Ever since the financial collapse of the state, Clearlake has been dealing with the issue by only putting out what they absolutely have to,” he said.

Davidson said that when Animal Care and Control handled Clearlake’s animals the number that came in was “huge.”

He estimated that Clearlake – which, based on the most recent state estimates, has a population of just over 15,000, or less than a quarter of Lake County’s total residents – accounted for about one-third of the animals that came into the shelter at that time. The rest of the county’s nearly 45,000 residents were responsible for the remaining two-thirds of the animals coming into the shelter.

“That seems unproportionately high,” he said.

As for Lakeport residents, any of them can bring in an animal to Animal Care and Control and the city pays the bill, Davidson said.

“Lakeport doesn't really have much of a problem. Clearlake has more or less always had a problem,” he said, adding that he could only speculate about the reasons behind Clearlake’s issues.

Davidson acknowledged the city of Clearlake’s struggles since the economic recession, but pointed out, “At some point once you start catching up again, you need to start reinvesting in some of your programs.”

He said that includes creating community cat programs and charging fees for some services.

Montana said she has been working with Davidson and trying to make better decisions for the animals and staff.

She said the SPCA recently has been successful in reducing the population through transfers and adoptions, although in the past week the number of dogs has climbed again, topping 50.

Cat numbers have been fluctuating, but typically are high. For context, Montana said 118 were brought in from Clearlake and 120 from the rest of the county in May.

The last count of cats at SPCA provided to Lake County News was 63, but on Thursday Montana said a number of felines had been transported to rescue in Eureka and three to four kittens a day are being adopted out. However, she said as kitten season continues, the facility could become overcrowded again.

According to SPCA records, before taking on the contract with the city, SPCA had up to a dozen cats at a time, with dog kennels rarely full. The organization acknowledged the kennels were overfull in June.

Lake County News visited the facility last week, with the kennels and other parts of the building appearing clean and in order. While there were numerous animals, there were not more than two dogs per kennel, and cats did not appear to be at full capacity.

In her assessment of Clearlake’s animal issues, Montana said the biggest problem is animals not being spayed or neutered.

Many animals also don’t receive basic vet care – vaccinations, teeth cleaning and heartworm testing – and she said there is a large feral cat population.

Some of the dogs that came into the shelter appeared to have been used for fighting, in Dr. Benjamin’s opinion, with police notified, Montana said.

Last year, an RV full of 24 Chihuahuas was found in Clearlake. Montana said a woman was breeding them in a puppy mill situation.

SPCA staff and volunteers stepped up to foster and get them homes, even bringing in a professional photographer, she said.

“Those are things that everyone forgets about,” she said of that effort.

Former employee levels allegations

In June, as the SPCA’s animal population issues were coming to a head, a former employee, Haley Pallas, published a lengthy post on Facebook criticizing the organization for failing to properly care for the animals, euthanization and a host of other issues.

She said that for every animal adopted, six others are euthanized, a number the SPCA said is untrue.

Pallas also took her concerns directly to the city of Clearlake, meeting with Phillipe and other city officials on June 15, which was the day Pallas said she resigned.

In an interview with Lake County News, Pallas – who worked with the SPCA for six months in the kennels and in the office – leveled a number of allegations at the organization.

Pallas, who previously has worked at boarding facilities in Sonoma County, alleged that the SPCA wasn’t accurately reporting the number of animals it was euthanizing, that animals that are neither sick nor aggressive have been put down, that SPCA was not properly keeping records on the animals in its care, that Montana was rarely there, that vaccinations weren’t being done, animals in pain weren’t being cared for properly, that the board is out of touch and wouldn’t respond to employee concerns, and that Montana doesn’t welcome new ideas from employees or volunteers.

She believes things have begun to change because she brought the public into it. “It needed to be out there.

In June Pallas also started an online petition at https://www.change.org/p/spca-of-clearlake-stop-murdering-innocent-animals-get-the-place-clean?recruiter=318973487&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_facebook_responsive&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default to bring attention to the issues she said exist at the SPCA.

The petition demands that the SPCA “stop murdering innocent animals” and get the facility clean. As of Thursday, approximately 685 people had signed the petition.

“I just want things to change,” Pallas said. “I don’t want them to get shut down.”

Montana said she had originally hired Pallas, who she said never came to her about her concerns about euthanasia issues. In addition, Montana denied Pallas’ other assertions about the SPCA’s operations.

Montana said that initially Pallas’ post brought a negative reaction, but she felt that there were many community members who stepped up to defend the SPCA’s efforts.

Ultimately, Montana said the matter created an opportunity to let the public know about the challenges shelters like the SPCA face.

In the weeks since, the SPCA has seen an uptick in adoptions, said Montana.

In one notable case, on July 3 they had six mastiff-hound puppies turned in as an owner surrender, Montana said. The pups were put up on the SPCA’s Facebook page, and within 20 minutes they began to receive calls from all over the county and beyond.

Within three and a half hours, all of the pups had been adopted out, with more people on the waiting list. “It brought people in,” said Montana.

While that was a small triumph, Montana and Crandall note that many animals have waited for months to find new homes. In some cases, they’ve had dogs – specifically pit bulls – since December.

What’s ahead

Folsom said he is now exploring options for moving forward with finding a new animal services provider.

He had toured the SPCA facility the last week of June and acknowledged that the organization was working on a “shoestring” budget.

As he identifies alternatives and costs, Folsom intends to bring them forward to the council, which he said will have to be done soon due to the timeframe in which the contract now runs out.

Besides considering going back to the county for services, he intends to explore how much it would cost for the city to once again take on its own services or to find another third party.

“At this point it’s too early to say what could happen,” said Folsom.

Davidson said he provided information to the County Administrative Office about the costs under the city and county’s previous animal control contract, noting it came out to about $93 for handling each dog, or about $3,700 a month based on Montana’s estimates of taking in 40 dogs monthly from Clearlake. He estimated it would cost another $10,000 for a community cat program.

Meanwhile, SPCA continues to work to recruit much-needed volunteers, and recently held two orientations for community members who wanted to get involved, Crandall said. However, they said that they can’t rely on volunteers for regular tasks.

The group also is working to raise funds to carry out long-overdue capital improvement projects, according to Crandall.

Montana and Crandall say they are grateful to the public and the many businesses that continue to support them through donations, money and reductions in costs for services.

That assistance has resulted in the replacement of the heating and cooling system, installation of a new water tank and pump, and updates to the computer system. They’re also exploring the future installation of a solar power system to reduce utility costs.

The other immediate challenge for SPCA is that its low-cost spay and neuter services and vaccination clinics – which provide 50 percent of the organization’s revenues – are having to be temporarily scaled back over the next two months due to Dr. Benjamin being out on medical leave, according to Montana.

The SPCA will continue to offer it low-cost vaccination clinics through the help of another local vet. However, “Our revenues are very strained right now,” Montana said.

She said the SPCA is working on grants to help cover those costs, with Petco Unleashed offering assistance through food donations, Montana said.

Since the start of this year, SPCA staff and animals have attended five adoption events and the group has reached out to partner with rescue organizations around the region.

The SPCA also has begun partnering with local senior centers to provide on-site, low-cost vaccination clinics and well pet exams. Montana said clinics are scheduled to take place in August at the Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake and at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center in September.

Montana said they want to put increased emphasis on prevention and education, and she said they have visited local schools to share that message.

Above all, they invite the community to get involved, whether in a visit to see the facilities for themselves, volunteering, fostering or adopting.

The challenges ahead, Crandall said, include deciding about the organization’s future, a matter ultimately up to the organization’s board of directors.

“I would hate to see the SPCA cease to exist,” said Crandall.

To learn more about the SPCA, visit its Web site at http://spcaofclearlake.com/ or its Facebook page.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.