Town officials are working on a deal with an animal rescue group that would reopen the recently shuttered animal control facility on Silvermine Road for a small fee.
The town and Coco’s Animal Rescue Efforts of Seymour Inc. (CARES) are reviewing a lease that would allow CARES to use the building at 115 Silvermine Road for its animal rescue mission.
The group’s mission is to prevent animal cruelty.
First Selectman Kurt Miller said CARES will bring in animals that are getting kicked out of shelters or scheduled to be euthanized, and will house them at the facility until they can be adopted.
Under the lease, CARES will pay $10 a year to use the building, and will pay any expenses associated with caring for rescue animals. And the town will pay for utilities and continue to maintain the building.
The move comes after the Board of Selectmen’s decision to partner with Woodbridge for animal control services. That move was met with criticism from volunteers, according to The New Haven Register.
But the town said a regional approach would expand coverage. Previously Seymour employed a part-time animal control officer. The shelter is undersized to meet today’s needs, officials said.
Miller said combining with Woodbridge was a better option than building a new shelter in Seymour.
“I think it’s a win-win for everybody,” Miller said after the Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, during which the lease was discussed.
Partnering with Woodbridge means that when a person in Seymour has an animal-related issue, a Woodbridge animal control officer responds, and the animal is housed in Woodbridge, if need be.
“Obviously regionalizing with Woodbridge is going to provide better coverage at a better price for the residents of Seymour,” Miller said. “But at the same time the rescue is going to give the volunteers the opportunity to stay engaged, to stay active, and, I think, to be even more impactful because they can now get those animals that are truly on their last legs, and be able to work harder for them.”
The lease allows CARES to keep the rescue shelter open between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., with no overnight parking allowed on site. Volunteer cars must be off the property by 9 p.m.
The lease for CARES to use the Silvermine Road building has a provision that the town can move back into the building if it decides to sever ties with Woodbridge animal control.
Background
The Board of Selectmen voted on June 7 to contract with Woodbridge for animal control services, and close the shelter on Silvermine Road.
Seymour will pay $70,000 per year under the contract, according to minutes from the meeting. Woodbridge’s shelter, on Bradley Road, will serve Seymour and Bethany under the one-year contract.
The Woodbridge facility is a no-kill shelter with a special cat room, according to the meeting minutes.
Some residents have criticized the move, both at the June meeting and on the town’s official Facebook page.
One concern was that there was a strong group of volunteers who would help out at Seymour’s animal shelter, who were concerned they wouldn’t be able to continue the work in Woodbridge.
Hurdle
The Board of Selectmen also voted on June 7 to allow the town to negotiate the lease agreement, so no additional vote was needed Tuesday.
But town counsel Richard Buturla said the town won’t sign the lease until it can get proof from the state Secretary of State that CARES is a registered non-profit.
When Buturla checked, he said the state had no record of Coco’s Animal Rescue Efforts of Seymour Inc.
“We’re going to reach back out to them and try to confirm their legal existence. That is an impediment. We do need to have an entity that we can contract with,” Buturla said. “It appears from documents that they provided to Kurt that they’re a 501C3, so I’m sure there’s just something wrong with the name they gave us.”
Teri Montana, the treasurer for CARES, declined comment for this article, saying she wanted to wait until the lease agreement was complete.