The fate of the animal shelter on McTaggart Road in Madras is up in the air after Jefferson County’s contract with operators Rockn EZ Ranch was up June 30. Just before the contract ended, the county announced a temporary agreement with Brightside Animal Shelter, and Rockn EZ coordinated with other rescuers in the area to move all the animals out of the shelter.
Now, the county is opening up the future of the shelter to the public. An open house and tour of the kennel facility is set for Monday, July 22 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
In a release sent by the county, the timeline of the shelter, and an outline of disputes with past operators was shared.
The original dog kennel was built in the 1980s, with outdoor kennels and a small office that remains on the site today. In 2013, Central Oregon Animal Friends, operating as Three Rivers Shelter, took over operations. In 2018, COAF built a community funded 5,600 square-foot building that held 41 indoor kennels. The county owns both the land and the building but gave COAF a 20-year lease. They vacated the lease early in 2023. That’s when Rockn EZ took over operations for a year with a $240,000 contract.
The county and Rockn EZ attempted to negotiate a further contract but failed to reach an agreement. The county stated in a release that “RezRR (Rockn EZ) representatives stated they would only accept a contract extension at $360,000 per year for 5-years and refused further negotiation.”
When Three Rivers was running the shelter, they received $40,000 a year from the county. Their annual budget was about $600,000, mostly funded through private donors.
When Rockn EZ took over, the county paid them $20,000 for the first four months, and their officials said their expenses to run the shelter were just over $50,000 a month.
Now that the shelter is empty of cats and dogs, the county has toured the building, and says it will need time to clean and renovate the shelter before looking for a new operator. The agreement with Brightside is for 10 kennels, and only for law enforcement-related pickups and holds.
Battle over the kennels
A major point of contention between the county and RezRR surrounds the 40 indoor kennels built by COAF when the new building was constructed.
The county claims ownership, and states they are fixtures of the shelter. The foundation and flooring of the shelter was built in such a way that the kennels slid into the concrete floor.
However, Rockn EZ says they bought the kennels from COAF for $5,000 in June 2023, when they took over management. They removed most of the indoor kennels when they vacated the premises, leaving only those designated for police holds.
The county said in a release “Prior to the contract termination, the County communicated to RezRR (Rockn EZ) that it had no rightful ownership of these fixtures as they were affixed to the foundation during construction as indicated in the building plans and the County’s ownership of the kennels is clearly addressed in the building lease with Three Rivers. Furthermore, RezRR’s (Rockn EZ’s) operational contract explicitly states that all fixtures on the premises will remain the property of the County. In the course of vacating the premises, RezRR (Rockn EZ) removed all indoor kennels from both buildings.”
After the open house, the county plans to hold a specific public input session during their July 31 meeting at 10 a.m. at the county commissioners meeting to hear public feedback from the open house.
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