Spokane Valley City Council to review SCRAPS contract after calls from local animal rights advocates

Spokane Valley is re-evaluating its contract with the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service after several community members raised concerns at city council meetings last month.

Former employees and volunteers at the regional animal control agency, commonly referred to as SCRAPS, have aired concerns about the organization – specifically negligence in the care for animals and unnecessary euthanization – under Director Jesse Ferrari and Shelter Operations Manager Nick Hobbs Doyle for more than a year. Ferrari and Hobbs Doyle joined the organization in late 2022.

After voicing those concerns to the Spokane City Council last year, former SCRAPS employees and volunteers have now directed their efforts to Spokane Valley.

Members of the Underground Rainbow, a local coalition of community members and former SCRAPS staffers dedicated to animal rights and welfare advocacy, dominated the public comment period during the last two Spokane Valley City Council meetings in February.

Their efforts have brought the issue to the forefront for Spokane Valley City Council members.

The council has requested a review of the city’s contract with SCRAPS after Underground Rainbow members accused the organization of negligence in its care for animals, unethical behavior by leadership and unnecessary euthanization in violation of SCRAPS’ no-kill policy and contractual agreements with the city.

The council will hear from Ferrari and city staff Tuesday about the state of SCRAPS, current service levels in the Valley and whether the agency is complying with their contract.

It will be the first of potentially many discussions about the city’s contract with the agency. City staff are continuing to review the contract for “potential compliance issues” and will initiate conversations about how to move forward at future council meetings, according to Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

Speakers at past council meetings have largely focused on the allegation that SCRAPS is unnecessarily euthanizing animals under current management. Many believe the extent of euthanization is due to lack of space, time and funding to continue care for animals.

County officials have said they do not euthanize due to capacity and said such allegations have come from disgruntled former staff and volunteers, as The Spokesman-Review reported last year.

Bryanna Franzen, president of the Underground Rainbow, told the council last month that SCRAPS had more euthanization last year than in any year since 2018. That was before the agency changed its policies to only allow euthanasia when medically necessary, either because the animal’s quality of life has deteriorated or because an animal poses a threat to public safety.

SCRAPS euthanized 18 dogs and 18 cats in January, Franzen said.

Officials with SCRAPS and the county declined to comment ahead of their presentation to the council Tuesday evening.

The city’s contract with the agency does not include euthanasia policies, and there is nothing in the Valley’s municipal code related to euthanasia at shelters.

“We will continue to bring the wrongdoings of SCRAPS into the limelight by providing facts backed by proof, until our laws, ordinances and contractual obligations are upheld, including the killing of animals, the ethical and dishonest practices that have occurred under SCRAPS’ new management, the retaliation and discrimination by their management, and the false narrative being dispersed throughout the community,” Franzen said.

Other comments shared by Underground Rainbow members focus on alleged contract violations, such as the shelter not being open during agreed -upon hours of operation, SCRAPS employees refusing to take in animals, or failure to accurately update the agency’s website with what animals are in the shelter.

The contract between the agency, the county and Spokane Valley specifies that the shelter’s hours of operation can be changed at the discretion of the county. Keeping a list of impounded animals to be updated every two hours is listed as a “goal” in the contract.

Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley said she looks forward to hearing from Ferrari to help clear up whether the accusations hold any weight.

“I just want to learn how much of what we’ve heard is true,” Haley said. “It may be true, and they may have a different reason for it, I don’t know. It’ll just be interesting to see.”

Councilman Al Merkel said he plans to ask Ferrari and city staff several questions about the agency’s operations. He hopes to learn whether the agency is meeting the terms of the city’s contract.

“I really want to go through the contract point by point to figure out whether they’re in compliance or they’re providing the services they should,” Merkel said.

Regardless of whether the agency is in compliance, Merkel said a larger conversation needs to be had to determine what the community wants in terms of animal control services, and how the city can take steps to meet those expectations.

“The public seems to have very clear assumptions about what they’re expecting,” Merkel said.