Rockland Officials Mull Management Changes At Hi-Tor Animal Shelter

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — With a new, much larger Hi-Tor Animal Shelter under construction with public and private funds, and the shelter's president facing criminal charges over paperwork, a town supervisor has floated the possibility of expanding the charter of the public authority overseeing recycling and waste management, to include running animal shelters.

The idea from Howard Phillips of Haverstraw has received mixed reviews.

It's also still far from a fleshed-out plan.

First, Rockland Green would have to have its charter amended. For that, the Rockland County Legislature would have to ask New York State legislators to approve the change.

Then the Rockland Green Board of Commissioners would have to come up with a proposal, including staffing, cost-sharing etc.

County Executive Ed Day told Patch the notion was completely separate from the construction project that began in October to build a modern shelter.

Hi Tor is the only animal care and control shelter in Rockland, taking in more than 2,500 animals each year. The county has traditionally provided some funding to and made county facilities available to Hi Tor for animal control and care. The county health department is charged with oversight.

The shelter has suffered for years from overcrowding and underfunding, in a facility basically unchanged since 1972. A new shelter that is three times the size of the current structure, is to be built using county, state and private funds; a ceremonial groundbreaking event was held in October.

There are important questions, Day acknowledged.

"What's the best way to fund operations, and also how do we see, down the road, the oversight? We have to get from where we came from to where we want to be," he said. "We have to figure out how to make the current and future situations work."

However, he said, if the charter isn't amended it's a moot point, which is why all the speculation is premature.

Patch reached out to Phillips and the county Legislature but had not heard back by press time.

Rockland Lawmaker Lon Hofstein told The Journal News this week he favors change at the shelter, which now is run by a small staff augmented by volunteers and supported through fundraising and contracts with municipalities for animal control.

Hofstein told reporter Steve Lieberman that the recent history of the shelter's operations was troubling. Hofstein said he would like to get to the planning stage, for thorough consideration, and would support amending the charter, but wanted Rockland Green to produce details for the legislature to consider. He sits on the authority's board of commissioners.

The shelter's president faces a cascade of charges over a paperwork dispute, whether kittens received by the shelter came from Rockland or nearby New Jersey.

That has depressed volunteering and donations, causing an ongoing problem at the shelter, Day said. "It's a very difficult situation and I hope it will be resolved soon."

SEE ALSO:

• Hi-Tor President Accused Of Felonies Over Shelter Operations
• Search Warrant Executed At Hi-Tor Animal Care Center
• Rockland Holds Ceremonial Groundbreaking For New Shelter
• Hi Tor Donation Aids Rockland's New Animal Shelter
• County Lends Dilapidated Building To Troubled Animal Shelter
• Hi Tor Won't Take Animals From Spring Valley
• Town Officials Check Hi Tor Animal Shelter
• Crisis At Hi Tor
• Rockland Lawmakers Approve Funding For New Animal Shelter

Editor's Note: Though officials held a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony in October, work has not yet begun on the new shelter as stated in the original version of this article. Patch regrets the error.