ST. LOUIS — Leaders of the nonprofit running the city animal shelter say they are being overwhelmed by stray and surrendered dogs and are out of room to care for them.
On Monday, they told aldermen they need the old, mothballed city jail to turn things around.
In a budget hearing, CARE STL officials said they have some big problems: The shelter building in Midtown is overflowing, to the point where some dogs are living outside. An overworked staff is burning out. And the city isn’t paying them enough to cover the cost of operations.
“It’s a crisis,†Dionne Flowers, a CARE board member and former city alderwoman, said in an interview later.
But CARE officials said a solution exists. If they could relocate to the empty City Workhouse, on the far north side, they said they could double their kennel space and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent, which could, in turn, pay for more staff.
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If they succeeded, they would also help reinvent an institution long criticized by reformers as a hulking symbol of an unfair justice system, where people accused of crimes were forced to endure sweltering temperatures, pest infestations and other indignities as they waited for their days in court.
A spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, who closed the workhouse as a jail last year and has solicited plans to “reimagine†the site, said future use of the facility must be “forward-thinking†and address the city’s critical needs.
“We appreciate the many proposals submitted to reimagine the use of this space and continue to solicit community input for a long-term, permanent use,†spokesperson Nick Dunne said in an email.
Aldermen at the budget hearing Monday were intrigued by CARE STL’s idea.
“We have a big space there,†said Alderwoman Pam Boyd, whose northside ward includes the workhouse site. “We need to use it.â€
If the request goes through, it would mark the union of some of the more controversial parts of city government in recent years.
The city’s animal operations came under scrutiny in the early 2000s, when a crackdown on stray dogs filled the old pound on the south riverfront and highlighted problems with ventilation and lack of space. Cats and dogs were crowded together. Disease ran rampant. In 2009, more than half the animals admitted were euthanized.
The next year, the city ordered the southside shelter closed, started farming out strays to nonprofits, and operations began to stabilize. The city opened another shelter in a warehouse in Midtown in 2012, dealt with far fewer animals and reduced the amount of euthanasia, said former city health director Pam Walker.
But now there are new challenges. Weng Horak, CARE STL’s founder and CEO, told aldermen that the number of animals coming into the Midtown shelter has skyrocketed in recent years — jumping by more than 1,200, or 74%, between 2019 and 2022.
Like at other shelters, people dropping off pets are often saying they can’t afford to care for them, Horak said. Others have been evicted and can’t find new housing that accommodates animals.
Staff try to clear as many as they can through adoption or foster homes. But right now, Horak said, the shelter has roughly twice as many dogs as it has kennels, at least 10 of which are outside. If that doesn’t change soon, Horak said, her medical director is going to lose her license for leaving animals in the summer heat.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable,†said Dr. Keri Morgan, the medical director.
Meanwhile, the workhouse sits empty. After years of protests by social justice activists, officials said last June the last group of inmates was gone. And in April, the administration launched a website soliciting ideas for what to do with the site now.
A survey on the website, , asks visitors if the jail should be demolished, if something new should be built there or if the city should just sell the place.
Horak said Monday it would be perfect for a shelter expansion. An outline presented to aldermen Monday envisions filling the old cellblocks with enough kennels to handle all the dogs in the shelter right now and turning the yards into dog walking trails and a small park. There would also be room for a community center, pet food pantry, and special housing for homeless people and their animals.
Horak said it would cost about $2 million to set up, and her nonprofit would help fundraise. She said she has sent the plan to the mayor’s office but hasn’t heard back.
Aldermen said Monday it was worth discussing.
Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, of far south city, said CARE STL clearly needs the space, and makes a compelling pitch.
“It will be interesting to see all of the proposals as they come in.â€