Niagara Falls may have found a solution for what to do with its stray dogs.
Mayor Robert Restaino is proposing that the City Council enter into an agreement with a Grand Island company to take over the sheltering services previously provided by the SPCA of Niagara. The deal, with Pit Chic Inc., would run through Dec. 31, 2024 at a cost to the city of $20,270 a month for the sheltering of up to 17 dogs.
Any additional dogs would be taken in at a rate of $37 a day.
The city’s agreement with the SPCA of Niagara ended on Aug. 12. In a letter to City Council members, Restaino writes that the termination of the SPCA agreement required the city to “engage Pit Chic’s services on an emergency basis.”
The mayor said the city has agreed to pay Pit Chic a rate of $675.60 a day for sheltering services until the proposed agreement with the company is executed. The city has also agreed to purchase 14 kennels to house seized dogs, on an emergency basis, at a cost of $13,000.
Once the preposed agreement is approved, the city will purchase another 31 kennels for the the shelter. Under the terms of the deal, Pit Chic will maintain the kennels, but the city will continue to own them and they can only be used to house dogs seized by the Falls.
Restaino describes Pit Chic as having “extensive professional veterinary experience and over 15 years of dog training, shelter and rescue experience.” Pit Chic will also make seized dogs available for adoption under the state Agriculture & Markets Law.
In order to transition dogs that were still being housed at the SPCA on Aug. 12, the city and the shelter have agreed to extend their expired agreement through Dec. 31. The council will be asked to approve that extension, which will continue pay the SPCA a daily rate for the care of the dogs.
Any dogs still being sheltered at the SPCA after Dec. 31, would remain at the shelter, available for adoption, without any additional payment from the city.
