Animal services improve in Midvale

Midvale Animal Control is no more. Instead, Salt Lake County Animal Services is now taking care of Midvale’s furry, four-legged residents.

When the city decided to contract with the Unified Police Department for police services over the summer, a decision also had to be made about what to do about the Animal Control department formerly under Midvale Police. Midvale made the decision to pay Salt Lake County Animal Services to take over.

Midvale’s animal shelter at 8190 Main Street is still open, Monday thru Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. One benefit to contracting with Salt Lake County Animal Services is that the animals brought into Midvale’s shelter are kept alive longer than they previously were.

“We keep strays for five days and then move them to the county shelter at 3900 South 500 West to put them up for adoption,” Associate Director April Harris said. “There are more chances for adoption at the county shelter.”

More than 250 animals, the majority being dogs and cats, have been brought into the Midvale shelter in the last 90 days. More than 30 were returned to their owner, and 44 have been adopted out.

“A big difference is that we are able to keep them in custody and up for adoption longer,” Harris said. “Midvale just didn’t have enough space and manpower.” Forty dogs and cats from Midvale are still up for adoption.

One program that Salt Lake County Animal Services implemented in Midvale in October is the Trap-Neuter-Return program. “Midvale has a feral cat problem and this is the approach we like to take,” Harris said. “Really, it’s a problem the whole county faces.”

Most small animal service departments, like the former Midvale Animal Control, just euthanize feral cats when they ended up in the shelters. “That doesn’t really work. It can actually make the problem worse,” Harris said. “More cats replace the euthanized cats because the food source is still there.”

The Trap-Neuter-Return program works just as it is described. Many feral cats live in colonies and tend to stay there throughout their lifespan. The food source Harris mentioned are usually compassionate citizens that like to feed the strays in their area. When a caregiver is found, they are educated about the program. They can obtain a Feral Cat Colony Permit by providing a description of the cats in the colony. After they do so, Salt Lake County Animal Services provides the caregiver with a cat trap. The cats are brought in to be sterilized and vaccinated and then they are returned to the colony.

“This works better long-term than euthanizing them because it stops them from procreating,” Harris said. “We actually see reductions in the number of feral cats after just a few years when we do this, because the lifespan of a feral cat is only 3 to 5 years because of prey, cars and diseases.”