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Kansas City made a significant change in how it handles animal control services over a year ago, transitioning away from KC Pet Project after four years of service. The city created its own animal control division six months ago, and officials say the transition is showing positive results.
Forest Decker, director of Kansas City's Neighborhood Services Department, which oversees animal control, said he feels optimistic about the progress made so far.
"I feel really good," Decker said. "We've been in hiring mode and training mode and process flow mode, you know, things like that, just kind of getting a new process down.”
The new animal control has faced significant challenges, particularly with high demand for services. In the past, residents had issues with call responsiveness and enforcement, which became Decker's primary focus.
"The demand has been high," Decker said. "We're running a 24 hour staff, which is something that's never been done before, and we have a lot of night calls."
Beyond internal changes, KC animal control is also working to improve its collaboration with animal rescue organizations.
"We've had a couple stakeholder meetings over the past few months, where we've kind of talked exactly about that; How can we help you, how can you help us do our job?" Decker said.
With basic operations now established, Decker said the focus is shifting toward that enhanced collaboration.
"Now that we've kind of got our staffing in place, and you know, training is a constant thing, but we've gotten our basic training stuff out of the way. We've gotten our call center squared away. I mean, we're, we kind of, we're rolling in operational mode pretty well. Now we need to just become more collaborative and be able to start working as a team with all the other agencies and in the, in the city," Decker said.
The department plans to continue those meetings with animal rescue partners in the coming months to further refine and improve service.
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