Animal-control services will be drastically cut next year in Loveland as the city fights to close a looming $33.5 million budget deficit over the next 10 years.
The city is cutting its contract with Larimer Humane Society — which enforces animal-protection and -control laws and ordinances — by 20 percent, or $90,000, starting Jan. 1.
The proposed cuts mean the Humane Society will limit animal-control field service in Loveland to five days a week for eight hours a day, with only one officer patrolling Loveland. That’s down from the current seven days of service with multiple officers responding, said Humane Society spokeswoman Marci Willms.
Calls given top priority include those in which law enforcement has requested the help of Animal Control, followed by calls for injured domestic animals needing urgent medical care and vicious animals at large, Willms said.
Animal nuisance calls — including an owner’s failure to remove animal waste and barking-dog complaints — will be the lowest priority.
“We recognize that the change in animal-control field service will have a significant impact on the residents of Loveland,” said Judy Calhoun, executive director of the Larimer Humane Society. “To the fullest extent possible, we want to prepare Loveland residents for the changes that lie ahead.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
