MUSKEGON, Mich.--Leaky roofs and old cages, just a few of the needed repairs at pound buddies animal shelter in Muskegon.
The shelter is housed in a county building, so Pound buddies' owners are now hoping they will get some assistance from the county in making repairs.
The Pound Buddies has been in the community since the 90s and they started offering shelter services for the county in 2010, but over the years the building the shelter is housed in has slowly deteriorated.
From roofs that are leaking and falling apart to an intake process that is just not sustainable. The pound Buddies staff say they've tried to make do with the resources that they have, but it's been difficult.
"We all know the reality of the situation because we have to constantly blow our drains out and move animals around because of the leaky roofs so they're making these concessions as they're caring for the animals," says Lana carson, Pound Buddies animal shelter director.
Care the staff has provided with no heat during the winter and no air in the summer, bad plumbing, and shotty electricity.
The shelter is currently in a county building on a three year lease.
With the building up for grabs this month they are hoping to secure a 10 year contract, creating enough time to raise the money needed to fix things up.
"Ideally if we were to get a long term commitment it would be beneficial especially when you're out trying to raise money and get people to invest in this endeavor is that it's going to be on the strategic plan in the future of what Pound Buddies will offer for the county," says Carson.
The county treasurer says he agrees with Pound Buddies, changes need to be made to the facility, but over the years the funding just hasn't been there.
"The site that they're on now the building needs work, ya know things have to be done. Nobody's going to disagree on that the last few years everybody has to make cuts, there's a lot of jobs that were lost, a lot of different things that each department does has slowed down quite a bit and that's my concern," says Tony Moulatsiotis, Muskegon county treasurer.
But, as the county accepts bids for the building they have one thing in mind: whoever gets the bid will get financial support.
But, where the money will come from is the concern.
"If we going to be fixing the building there's an awful lot of money, we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars that have to go in, I have to make sure that we're not taking from other programs that are as important and putting it into a program that's also important but we're hurting the general fund," says Moulatsiotis.
The county says the bid for the building is set to be announced on December sixth and that one other party is interested. The county treasurer says he hopes to help make the shelter into something it's owners can be proud of it but it will take time and money.
