San Luis plans own animal control program

San Luis, Ariz. plans to create its own department to round up stray animals and pick up roadkill after choosing not to renew its service contract with the Humane Society of Yuma.

Stray cats and dogs will still be taken to the Humane Society's shelter in Yuma, but recent growth in San Luis is demanding that the city start providing its own patrolling and responding to calls for help, city officials said.

"We are a growing community with a lot more residents, so we just feel the need to have someone here on a day-to-day basis," said Karin Meza, public information officer for San Luis. "This is going to be a great program for the community and we're really excited about this."

San Luis will officially launch its first-ever Animal Services Program next month. A single animal services officer will patrol on certain days and be available for emergencies after hours, Meza said. The Animals Services Program will work with the San Luis Police Department, which will field animal-related calls through its dispatch.

"But in the future, once we see the need is there for us to hire more (officers), that's something the city will consider," she said.

The city announced Tuesday that it has hired Victor Olivares who brings six years of experience in animal control to the job. Olivares worked as an animal control officer for the Humane Society of Yuma. Most recently he worked as a sergeant at the San Luis Detention Center.

"This is a great community and we have a great group of people working in the City of San Luis, who truly care about the animals and people who live here," Olivares said in a press statement.

In addition to collecting strays and picking animals that have been injured or killed on San Luis streets, the new program will also be responsible for handling complaints regarding barking dogs and animal cruelty.

The Humane Society of Yuma currently provides animal control services for Yuma, Somerton and Yuma County. The latter includes Tacna and Dateland, but excludes Wellton, according to Elkie Wills, spokeswoman for the Humane Society.

Meza with San Luis stressed that the city's decision doesn't indicate any unhappiness with the services the Humane Society had provided.

"We're still good friends of the Humane Society," Meza said. "We are still going to be working closely with them."

Wills said the Humane Society is happy to still receive animals from San Luis.

"We are here to serve the city of San Luis and its animals in any way we can," Wills said. "We will maintain our relationship so we can provide the very best care possible (through the shelter),"

San Luis will have to pay $100 fee for each animal taken to the Yuma shelter, according to Meza, who estimated that the Humane Society typically picked up 4-5 animals a month in San Luis.


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Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.