Is Clarendon Hills Cutting Ties With Hinsdale Group?

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills has long used the Hinsdale Humane Society for impounding dangerous, abandoned or stray animals.

That may change.

In a memo this week, Police Chief Paul Dalen said village staff believes it is prudent to compare other animal shelter services with those provided by the Hinsdale group.

Now, the village code requires that the animals in question go to the Hinsdale Humane Society. The chief wants the code changed to let them be sent to the shelter he designates.

According to the memo, the Humane Society recently contacted the village staff about the costs of impounding animals. The group wanted a formal agreement with an annual charge of $3,000, which is subject to change depending on use, the memo said.

Now, the society charges $30 per impound, with the police department averaging nine impounds a year, according to the memo.

The Village Board is slated to take up the issue Tuesday.

In an email to Patch, Jacki Rossi, the society's executive director, said her group has served more than a dozen towns over the last two years, taking in nearly 500 animals at virtually no cost. She said the society values its partnerships with neighboring towns and that it wants to continue to support Clarendon Hills.

The society, Rossi said, is working to get annual agreements with area towns to cover some of its costs for housing and caring for animals. Brookfield is an example of a town that now has an agreement with the society.

She pointed to Hei Hei, a stray husky from Clarendon Hills, as an example of an animal that the shelter has helped. It received Hei Hei in September.

"He was with us for two months before adoption and our medical, training, and foster teams were all part of his care," Rossi said in the email. "He was neutered, given all his vaccinations and preventative medical care. He was very anxious in the shelter environment, so our medical team started him on anxiety meds. Our trainer worked on decompression with him and our foster Program Manager was able to place him in a foster home while he waited to be adopted. This was in addition to two months of basic care – food and supplies.

Because of these efforts, Rossi said, Hei Hei was adopted in November.