Pasco City Council members spent a large chunk of a recent meeting listening to residents argue over the future of Tri-Cities Animal Services, then told staff to keep researching a hybrid shelter model rather than move toward a stripped-down "pound" system, according to nbcrightnow.com.
No vote was taken. Council members asked staff to bring back more financial detail on the hybrid option before any decision moves forward.
Several speakers pushed back hard against a pound-only model, which would limit the shelter to short-term stray holds and animal control functions with no broader adoption or rescue mission. "We can't do a pound. A pound is pretty much off the table. Because what are we going to do with the animals that can't make it into the pound," one speaker told the council, according to nbcrightnow.com's account of the meeting.
Costs have nearly tripled
The debate centers on money. According to the city's agenda report, direct operating costs for the Tri-Cities Animal Control Authority ran between $2.23 million and $2.43 million a year from 2023 through 2025. That's roughly triple the $875,000-a-year peak the three cities paid under an earlier contract model that covered only animal control and short-term stray holds, before the current shelter opened.
The shelter itself is relatively new. The 9,600-square-foot facility opened after a decade-long push and $4.1 million construction project, split evenly with $2 million contributions each from Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, according to Tri-City Herald reporting carried by Yahoo News around its 2023 groundbreaking.
The agency operates under a formal interlocal agreement among the three cities, filed with the county and posted by the Municipal Research and Services Center. Through March 2025, the cities split all costs evenly. After that, the agreement moved to a base-and-usage formula. Under the 2026 usage shares, Kennewick is billed 39% of costs, Pasco 44% and Richland 17%.
What a hybrid model would look like
Under the hybrid option staff are studying, animal control services — responding to loose animals, dangerous-dog cases, sick or injured animals and cruelty complaints — would continue largely unchanged. But day-to-day shelter operations, including intake, adoptions and rescue partnerships, would shift to a nonprofit organization, applevalleynewsnow.com reported. That's the same structure the three cities used before 2021, when the current authority took over full shelter operations.
Cost has been the sharpest point of criticism from elected officials on all three councils. "It seems like a pretty expensive program, as far as programs go," Pasco City Councilman Joe Cotta said at a recent meeting, according to applevalleynewsnow.com. Kennewick City Councilman John Trumbo struck a similar note: "My heart goes out to people who love pets and have animals, but you can't do everything."
What's next
Staff have not yet published full financial modeling for the hybrid option, including projected annual costs under a nonprofit operator, so council members are working without a complete cost comparison for now. It's also unclear when Kennewick and Richland — both partners in the interlocal agreement — will take up the same question, or whether the three cities' budget calendars will line up for a joint decision.
Residents who want to track the issue between council meetings can follow the Tri-Cities Animal Control Authority Management Committee, which meets the second Thursday of every even month at 5:30 p.m. in Pasco City Hall council chambers, 525 N. Third Ave., according to the city's civic meeting portal.
