Multnomah County animal shelter '8 years past unacceptable'.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- For years, Multnomah County Animal Services has struggled with overcrowding, outdated facilities and staffing shortages, which makes it tough to meet standards and properly care for animals.

Now, the department is pitching a brand new facility to county commissioners. The plan calls to nearly double their size -- from 18,000-square feet to 35,000-square feet -- enhancing medical care, animal housing and community access. The cost: Between $53 million and $65 million. Approximately $3.5 million remains from a previous capital project fund, which was established from Edgefield North Resolution.

Animal services could transform the current shelter in Troutdale or build a new facility on the county-owned Vance properties near Gresham.

"When you tour (the current facility) you can see how it would be hard for staff and volunteers to provide the standard of care you'd expect," Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards said.

Commissioner Sharon Meieran is open to the proposal but her real concern, she said, is the glaring neglect of animal care.

A 2018 follow-up audit demanded 15 urgent changes to fix the shelter's issues. Yet, as of August 2024, they still need to implement nearly half of them -- including daily animal care programs and better policies for adoptions.

According to Meieran, even with a larger budget and more investment for the shelter, it's still turned away animals and skipped basic spaying-and-neutering.

"The animals frankly don't care what we say about them," she said. "They care about what we do for them."

As for the next steps, Multnomah County Animal Services said it's working to get a leadership team in place for the project along with securing funding approval by the end of March 2025. A financing committee is set to explore additional funding strategies and options to fully support the new facility's construction.