Julia Williams
Julia Williams
Editor-in-Chief
For the past five years, local nonprofit animal shelter KC Pet Project (7077 Elmwood Blvd.) has harnessed Kansas City’s animal control services.
While this animal rescue took over these responsibilities from Kansas City’s City Management in 2019, the City’s Neighborhood Services Department has resumed animal control leadership from KC Pet Project effective as of Wednesday, July 30. This decision, Director of Neighborhood Services for the City of Kansas City Forest Decker shared, is largely due to the expiration of KC Pet Project’s contract, which it was operating through the City of Kansas City as its outsource program. However, in 2024 when the shelter’s contract was expiring, City Council suggested animal control services be reinstated as an insource program, rather than an outsource one.
Over the past year, the City submitted a request for proposal (RFP), which allowed them to construct a new plan for Kansas City’s animal control services from scratch.
“We wanted to create a better system than there had ever been before — better than the City ran before and the way KC Pet Project ran for the past five years,” Decker said.
This resolution went before the City Council and was approved in March 2025.
“I love a challenge, creating this out of scratch was a challenge, but we had some great teamwork,” he shared.
By returning to an insource program, one of the City’s main goals, Decker said, is to adhere to and address four core priorities, which Kansas City residents detailed across four public meetings as well as online surveys. These priorities include a stronger enforcement of:
- Neglect and abuse cases
- Dangerous dog cases
- Stray Dogs
- Spay and Neuter
And while City Council originally requested insourcing of animal control services by Dec. 31, Decker shared, the Neighborhood Services Department’s partnership with KC Pet Project as well as the shelter’s new CEO aided the organizations in moving up this timeline.
“This is too big for one organization to do every single thing; It’s more than one organization can tackle,” Decker said in relation to animal control services.
Residential Impact
KC Pet Project will still operate the animal shelter, he clarified, however, the City will now resume responsibility for animal control services or the Animal Services Division — with all offices operating out of KC Pet Project. The impounded and confiscated animals will be held at the shelter as well.
While internal operations are shifting for Animal Control services, the City and the shelter does not anticipate it will have an impact on residents. The one change throughout this transition, that residents will see, is a change in who to contact about an animal control-related matter, which the City believes will in turn, lead to a more robust dispatch system. Delayed or lack of response is one issue residents expressed over meetings and surveys that they would like to see improvement in.
As of July 30, for those looking to file an animal control call, residents can reach the Neighborhood Services Department, which is shifting into animal control management, by calling the 311 Action Center — the City’s hotline for services and information. A report can additionally be filed on “myKCMO” app, available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play.
An improvement, Decker shared, that residents will see includes available staff. With animal control transitioning to a City operated service, a staff member will be available and on call 24/7 — including an emergency line.
“We thought it was important to include seven days a week,” Decker said in an interview. “[Based on] a split-shift concept, four days [on] with three days off.”
With a 28-person team, and a total of 20 field officers, this schedule ensures at least 10 officers will be on shift, seven days per week.
And while the City holds more broad authority, they believe this transition will allow officers to be more aggressive at searching and impounding.
“In turn, there’s more resourcing; It’s a huge win for residents, KC Pet Project and the Animal Welfare Agency,” Decker said in an interview in reference to the transition of services. “It’s a change for [both organizations] to concentrate on what we’re really good at.”
Effects on KC Pet Project
While the City works to take over Animal Control services KC Pet Project CEO Kate Meghji shared that it will allow the shelter to more closely focus on its mission: creating a compassionate community for pets and people.
“I’m in favor of this transition,” Meghji said in an interview. “With the City taking over regulatory enforcement as a municipal function, KC Pet Project can expand its nonprofit work and help keep pets and people together.”
However, this transition was not a decision that came easy to the shelter in the beginning.
“I think the shelter wasn’t in favor of it before because it felt like something was being taken away,” she said.
However, Meghji shared that she has met with the City every week to discuss the transition process.
A concern for KC Pet Project is available capacity at the shelter. As the City has created a staffing plan for around the clock animal control service enforcement and impoundments — and with no current expansion plans for the shelter — overcrowding at the shelter is a potential possibility within the coming months.
She shared that the needs of KC Pet Project currently exceed the shelter’s capacity. “There’s not enough space to handle a significant increase of impounded pets from the City,” Meghji said. “We’ll need to do a deep dive into historic intake numbers and trends to see where that will land us.”
And while staff has had conversations surrounding building an additional shelter, there is no current discussion on present facility expansion.
“There’s a lot to think about, we’ll see how it goes,” she shared. “We’ll look at the data to see what are the most common types of impounds — making sure that the only animals who are impounded are the ones who can’t be quickly reunited with their families, those who are injured, ill, subjected to cruelty or neglect, and those who present a public safety risk.”
Meghji joined KC Pet Project in May and said that while most of her time has focused on this transition, she is excited to now shift her attention toward the data to assess community issues and needs — including stray dogs, spay and neuter, vaccines, disease prevention and wrap-around service support.
Community Opportunity
Decker shared this transition has created 28 new job opportunities — with 24 positions filled so far.
Some of these employees for the new animal control department were transferred over from KC Pet Project’s previous department as well as a few people who worked for animal control, predating KC Pet Project.
And while some of these include management and administration positions, Decker said there are also officer entry level positions available on staff. These positions do not require extensive experience as a training program will be required upon employment.
One aspect of this program that Decker shared he is most excited for includes the impact it will have on residents and animals within the community.
“I’m most looking forward to over the next year, hearing about what an improved service people have and division of resources,” he said.
And as this transition of services goes into effect, the two elements Meghji encourages from the community: cooperation and support.
“Everyone be patient with us, be patient with the City,” Meghji said. “It’s summer time, the shelter is full; foster, adopt, we would love to see more of the community involved.”
To access Kansas City animal control services, visit: https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/neighborhood-services/animal-services.
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