The Board of County Commissioners received an update Tuesday, Jan. 21, on work to replace Multnomah County Animal Services’ cramped Animal Services Facility.
The briefing, presented by the Department of County Assets, Department of Community Services and Animal Services, focused on work to plan, finance and design a new campus that’s large enough to appropriately take care of animals while ensuring the County can also meet national industry standards.
Animal Services Director Erin Grahek, who highlighted the need for a new shelter, was joined by Facilities and Property Management Director Dan Zalkow and Chief Financial Officer Eric Arellano. The briefing fulfilled a requirement of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget and followed an initial presentation in September 2024.
“Our environment is one of our greatest challenges,” said Grahek, noting the current shelter is a challenge due to space constraints and resources. “Our space is required to be a shelter, a hospital, and a long-term holding facility for animals in protective custody or a secure facility for dangerous dogs during pending litigation.”
“Since taking office two years ago, rebuilding Animal Services from the ground up has been a priority for me,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who reiterated the importance of rebuilding Animal Services’ shelter in Troutdale.
The current facility has been a major barrier in implementing the Strategic Plan she set up immediately after taking office in January 2023 to improve conditions at the shelter and comply with a series of recommendations on how to follow best practices.
The shelter’s environmental challenges
Referencing the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ guidelines for standards of care in animal shelters, Animal Services found the current facility prevents the County from meeting a number of guidelines. Those include:
- Adequate space and housing for essential programs.
- Separate and appropriate housing areas for different species, predator/prey status, health status and behaviors, and long-term animals.
- Space to manage communicable disease.
Grahek also pointed out that at times, when the shelter is at or near capacity, constraints in space make it difficult for the County to meet additional guidelines.
The industry guidelines say animals should not be housed in spaces not intended for them, like bathrooms or hallways. Despite this guideline, Animal Services has had to shelter animals in spaces such as hallways and offices due to a lack of space and the need to separate animals by type and species. At one point, Grahek said, staff had to keep a bearded dragon in a hallway because of space constraints.
Animal Services has also struggled to find sufficient space for essential shelter operations and programs such as laundry, food storage, examination and intake.
The shelter lacks dedicated storage space and as a result is often cluttered with supplies and equipment. Examination areas and surgical spaces are also “cramped,” making it difficult for staff to provide pre- and post-operative services or monitor for the range of species and volume of surgeries that the shelter is required to perform.
“Hospital work areas are antiquated and cramped and do not allow for the volume and variety of the animal health staff’s work to be performed in the safest manner possible,” said Grahek.
Animal Services has also been unable to meet guidelines for quarantining of animals with infectious diseases. Grahek said the shelter has only one isolation area — a former storage space without any natural light — and it supports only cats. There are no separate spaces available on site to quarantine dogs.
Other findings indicate a need for more green areas for animals, and separation of louder and quieter areas to reduce stress in animals.
“In addition to animal welfare industry guidelines, we know our facility has a significant deficit to meet County standards and expectations to provide equitable and accessible services to the community,” said Grahek.
Grahek also pointed out the shelter — in Troutdale — is difficult to reach for most County residents. Beyond its distance from the County’s primary population centers, the shelter isn’t served by public transportation and it lacks sidewalks for someone who might need to walk to the shelter.
Planning and Design
County officials first started planning and designing the replacement of the current facility in 2007, Zalkow said. Additional funds in 2016 were allocated for further planning and design work. Consultation and planning with a local design firm and design specialists and planning began in earnest in 2019.
The design team, in consultation with County staff, volunteers and leadership, as well as design consultants, has laid out a sketch of what the new facility might look like.
Program areas were grouped into categories, such as non-housing public spaces, cat and small animal housing, and shelter medicine and surgery to determine how much space was needed.
Staff determined that the new shelter would need a minimum of 35,000 square feet, and 45,000 square feet for a more ideal space. The existing facility is 17,999 square feet. Considering the space the new site needs, Zalkow provided a rough estimate ranging from $55 million to $70 million. “A fairly large site would be needed of at least four acres.”
The team also explored the option of renovating and expanding the current building.
The Board in March will have the opportunity to approve a next phase of the planning and design work. In the meantime, Facilities and Property Management will work with a real estate planning firm and partners to define site requirements, analyze the cost impact of site characteristics, and refine their search for available properties.
Funding strategy
Speaking about the preliminary funding strategy, Arellano pointed out that $3.5 million from the County’s Capital Fund have been set aside for this specific project. The strategy to fund the rest of the project cost will be based on the Board and is subject to change.
“If the Board does decide to move forward with this project, we’re going to have to do some level of financing to move the project forward” starting in early fiscal year 2027, based on the current pace of the project, said Arellano.
The County will continue to identify and seek outside funding sources, determine timing and resources, and develop a funding plan schedule to support the direction of the Board.
Board Comments
“I appreciate the different perspectives you brought into this so the Board can get a clear picture of the considerations from the financial perspective, and the needs and kinds of constraints that we’re dealing with,” Chair Vega Pederson shared.
“I am supportive of the new animal shelter,” said Commissioner Meghan Moyer, but expressed concern about the high potential cost per square foot.
Zalkow said the figure is conceptual because of the many contingencies built into the estimate and the team’s priority of giving the Board “a general idea” of the funding strategy. “When we have a design firm on board and another estimating firm on board, at each phase of the design, we will be having better estimates. And we also welcome your involvement and others into those estimates to help us make sure we're right-sizing appropriately.”
“I’m curious if the estimate includes costs for whatever we need to do if we’re constructing at the current site,” asked Commissioner Shannon Singleton.
“We did look at estimates at the current site," said Zalkow, but described the current site as challenging and with the need to relocate everyone, “the prices ended up being comparable, but it was quite expensive to renovate and expand because of the current building.”
Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon shared he was “curious about the level of engagement with the cities out in East County, " asking if they had been involved in the planning process so far.
Grahek referenced a 2023 community survey the shelter administered as part of their strategic plan, which also included community outreach and focus groups, but said there has not yet been any specific conversations with the municipalities.
While Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards was absent from the briefing, Chair Vega Pederson said Brim-Edwards will be leading the community input on design and next steps to address the location of the site, including East County.
