The Baker City Council plans to create a work group, including councilors and residents, to discuss potential options for opening a dog shelter in the city, a facility that could potentially be run by a nonprofit as the city doesn’t have money for such a project.

That’s the long-term idea.

The more immediate need, City Manager Barry Murphy told councilors during their meeting Tuesday evening, Feb. 11, at Quail Ridge Golf Course, is to find a place to impound dogs that police officers pick up either because they’re running loose or if they have bitten someone.

Murphy told councilors that he has talked with the owners of the Baker Veterinary Clinic about that business potentially housing impounded dogs.

The city announced on Tuesday, Feb. 18, that it had reached a temporary agreement with the Baker Veterinary Clinic to impound dogs under the same system the city used with the Animal Clinic of Baker.

About 40 people attended the meeting, the council’s first discussion after the Animal Clinic of Baker notified the city that it was withdrawing, effective Feb. 15, from its contract with the city to impound dogs picked up by local police.

The meeting took place at the city-owned golf course because the city is assessing water damage in council chambers at Baker City Hall, the usual meeting venue, resulting from a roof leak in January.

Dr. Matt Kerns, the veterinarian who owns the Animal Clinic, said recently that he had given the city 30 days written notice, as the 2020 contract requires, that he was withdrawing as of Feb. 15.

The city pays the clinic $10 per day per impounded dog.

Kerns said volunteers from Best Friends of Baker have been so dedicated over the past couple decades that the clinic has rarely had to euthanize a dog because it wasn’t either claimed by its owner, or temporarily housed by a Best Friends volunteer, within the city’s prescribed five-day period.

The city pays the clinic $72 to euthanize a dog.

The problem, Kerns said, is that Best Friends no longer has enough volunteers to rescue most impounded dogs. He said it has also become harder for volunteers to find people willing to adopt dogs permanently.

Sumir Brown, the dog lead for Best Friends, said their number of foster homes has decreased over the last few years.

Kerns said he’s worried that if the Animal Clinic continued to impound dogs, the staff would have to start euthanizing dogs much more frequently.

“That goes against everything we work for here,” he said. “It’s an emotionally tough thing.”

In a report to councilors, Murphy listed five potential options.

“1. PD responds to and collects only dogs that are dangerous and/or have bitten someone. (We believe the Animal Clinic will still accept these animals since this was briefly discussed in our conversation with them, but we are still working on that).

2. Determine whether another veterinarian in town is willing to sign a similar contract as the one we had with the Animal Clinic (either short-term or long-term). We are still in discussions on this option.

3. Contract with La Grande’s dog impoundment facility.

4. Buy the lot that includes the kennels from the Donna’s Groom and Board business that is no longer in business.

5. Inquire as to whether an entity like the Humane Society wants to open a branch here in Baker City (this is how Prineville deals with their dog issues).”

Murphy wrote that he believes in the “very short-term, only options 1 and 2 are realistic options.”

Murphy wrote that transporting dogs to La Grande would be cost-prohibitive, as well as making it difficult for dog owners wanting to pick up their pets since they would have to drive 45 miles.

As for buying the property on 17th Street, where Donna Kanyid operated a boarding kennel for decades, an option that Baker County Commissioner Christina Witham mentioned during the commissioners’ Feb. 5 meeting, Murphy wrote that the city “has no stable revenue source to pay for this, and the requirements of running an impound facility in a legally sufficient manner are substantial.”

Murphy wrote that he and Police Chief Ty Duby recommend option 2 — trying to negotiate a contract with a different veterinarian — if that’s feasible.

“This would be extremely helpful even if it is only on a short-term basis while we determine a longer-term solution,” Murphy wrote.

Murphy told councilors Tuesday that he has discussed with owners of the Baker Veterinary Clinic the possibility of that business serving as an impound facility for dogs.

If option 2 isn’t possible, Murphy wrote, the city would go with option 1 — having police and the city’s code enforcement officer impound only dogs that have bitten someone or otherwise are deemed dangerous.

The best long-term solutions, Murphy wrote, are either a contract with the La Grande shelter or the Humane Society to open and run a shelter in Baker City.

“A contract with the Humane Society would be expensive, but less expensive than having the City run a facility,” Murphy wrote. “This option would also depend on the Humane Society being willing to open a branch in Baker City.”

Council discussion and public comment 

Brown, dog lead for Best Friends of Baker, told councilors she understands that the short-term issue is finding a place to impound dogs that police officers pick up.

But she said she believes the ideal long-term solution is to build an animal shelter in the city, possibly through a public-private partnership. Brown said there are many potential sources of money for such a facility, but that it would require “creative planning.”

Randy Sandknop of Baker City asked councilors about the property that formerly served as Donna Kanyid’s dog boarding kennel. Sandknop wondered whether a grant might be available to buy the property, which “seems like an ideal long-term solution.”

Sherry Brennan of Baker City said she and her husband, while walking on Feb. 1 near Broadway and 10th streets, watched two dogs, a pit bull and a Husky, attack a deer. Brennan said a child was with the dogs but was not able to control the two.

“There is a problem within our community with dogs being allowed to running at large,” Brennan said. “Some of these dogs are dangerous. People who let their dogs run loose need to be cited and fined.”

She pointed out that the city has an ordinance requiring dog owners to keep their animals under control.

Brennan said she is filing a complaint with the police department about the Feb. 1 attack.

Carmen Ott, who has volunteered with Best Friends of Baker for more than a quarter century, said opening an animal shelter involves much more than just “opening a building.”

Ott told councilors that the Oregon Department of Agriculture requires Best Friends and other animal rescue groups to keep documents about all the animals they work with.

Daugherty lauded Ott for her decades of work with Best Friends.

“Carmen, you’ve done a great job,” he said.

“We are not going to give up the battle,” Ott said.

Councilor Helen Loennig said that although she doesn’t believe the city can afford to operate an animal shelter, she supports having a local facility. She suggested creating a board that could potentially form a nonprofit that could run a shelter.

“I would like to see something permanent,” Loennig said.

Councilor Doni Bruland said she supports having the council set up a work group, with other interested residents, to work on a long-term solution and report to the council. Bruland, Loennig and councilor Gratton Miller also expressed interest in serving on a work group, as did Brown from Best Friends.

Bruland said she wants to have Murphy continue discussions with the Baker Veterinary Clinic to potentially take over, at least in the short term, the impound contract that the Animal Clinic of Baker has done.

Dick Haines of New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals, which trains rescued dogs so they can be adopted, encouraged councilors to work with county commissioners to try to find a solution.

“We really need something,” said Haines, who also works with inmates at Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City to train dogs. 

Daugherty said the council will be talking with county commissioners about the issue.

Most impounded dogs are picked up in Baker City, but the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police occasionally find dogs running loose outside the city limits.

Downtown parking

Shannon Lang-Maxwell, owner of A-Diva Salon at 2030 Resort St., asked councilors to consider making changes to aspects of downtown parking, particularly diagonal parking on the east side of Resort Street.

She also said that a neighbor to her business has multiple vehicles, including a snowmobile on a trailer parked on the street, that exacerbate the parking problem.

“It’s a safety issue,” Lang-Maxwell said of the parking issue.

Councilor Roger Coles said the council several years ago considered switching to parallel parking in the area, but that motion failed. He said diagonal parking also is a challenge on sections of First Street.

Councilor Loran Joseph said switching from diagonal to parallel parking would significantly reduce the number of parking spaces. He said he believes the biggest problem near the salon is the person parking vehicles illegally with no ramifications from the city.

Police Chief Ty Duby said that although the city can tag illegally parked vehicles as “dead storage,” the owner has 10 days to comply, which can mean simply moving the vehicle to a different space.

Mayor Randy Daugherty said he considers the situation on the property next to A-Diva Salon a “nuisance” rather than a parking issue.

“Let’s dig deeper,” Daugherty said, asking Duby to look into the situation and see if there is a solution.

Taxi/ride-sharing ordinance

In other business Tuesday, councilors discussed a proposed ordinance replacing the city’s taxi ordinance.

The city has been without a taxi company since Aug. 31, 2023.

Kaylee Berg started an Uber service in the city in early November 2024.

Murphy wrote in a report to councilors that a second person has started a ride-sharing service.

The city’s current taxi ordinance doesn’t address ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

The proposed new ordinance does include provisions regarding such businesses.

Councilors will consider the proposed ordinance at a future meeting.

Letter to lawmakers regarding watershed project

Murphy said he has drafted a letter to U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and congressman Cliff Bentz, urging support for the Forest Service’s plan to try to reduce the wildfire danger in the city watershed.

Work is scheduled to start as soon as this spring.