Dog returned home in Apple Valley after two years missing
Havoc, a French bulldog, was reunited with his owner in Apple Valley after going missing for more than two years thanks to a microchip implant.
Provided by the Apple Valley Animal Shelter
Animal control services for cats in Waukee will be ending sooner than initially expected.
The city knew that De Soto-based AHeinz57 Pet Rescue and Transport is ending its program for cats, and the shelter's animal control contract with Waukee was to end June 30. But on Monday, the Waukee City Council approved a new agreement with AHeinz57 that replaces the old one and takes effect April 1.
The new three-year agreement means that while services for dogs in Waukee will continue with AHeinz57, services for cats will end April 1, three months earlier than before.
“Hopefully cat owners will be more responsible with their cats, which includes getting them spayed or neutered and stop dumping them,” shelter owner Amy Heinz told the Register on Tuesday.
The shelter is getting out of cat care because of the high costs compared to cats' adoption price.
What does the new agreement mean for stray cats and dogs in Waukee?
Under the new agreement with AHeinz57, the Waukee Police Department will no longer respond to stray cats and residents will instead be referred to the services of nuisance wildlife control operators with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Or people will be asked to find their own shelter for the stray cats.
AHeinz57 will continue to collect dogs secured by police officers and the city will continue to reimburse the shelter $100 per dog that's picked up and housed.
Waukee has contracted with AHeinz57 since 2020 for shelter services for strays. People also can independently surrender their pets — not cats or kittens anymore — but there is a waiting list and no guarantee that a pet can be taken in, according to AHeinz57's website.
What about West Des Moines?
The hole in services for suburban cats also will soon include West Des Moines when AHeinz57 terminates its cat contract there.
That contract will expire this summer. The shelter takes in strays for West Des Moines, and provides spay and neuter services, though the city first tries to identify animals' owners at a city-run holding facility before turning them over to AHeinz57 for adoption. Owner surrenders also are not part of the city's contract with the shelter.
The city has worked with AHeinz57 since July 2023.
West Des Moines spokesperson Lucinda Stephenson said in January the city will continue to partner with AHeinz57 for other animals and the city had six months to come up with a new plan for cats.
Stephenson said Tuesday there were no details yet to share about what that might be.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com or on X at @pslifeisabeauty. Find out more about him online through the Register's staff directory.
