Caitlin Pusco, director of the Leadville Lake County Animal Shelter, told the Lake County Board of County Commissioners at a work session that the shelter’s immediate priorities are increasing fundraising, expanding its foster and volunteer base, and hiring an assistant manager to cover daily operations.

Pusco said the shelter has pursued multiple grants and identified two additional grant opportunities. She described a proposed budgeted position for a grant administrator and said the shelter has discussed creating a nonprofit “friends of” organization so it can apply for grants restricted to nonprofits. “One of our short term goals, especially with the animal shelter advisory board, is continuing to have fundraising efforts increased,” Pusco said.

The shelter also is expanding community fundraising efforts such as a mural project in its lobby, where community members pay to paint squares on the adoption-photo wall. Pusco said those small local efforts complement larger grant-seeking work.

On staffing, Pusco said the shelter will hire an assistant manager next year; the role is intended to cover day-to-day operations so the director can focus on reports, projects and grant writing. “We always want a minimum of 2 staff members at the shelter for safety,” Pusco said, describing the shelter’s policy on minimum staffing because of human- and animal-safety risks when handling quarantined or aggressive animals.

Pusco gave figures to illustrate capacity pressures: at one point this year more than 35 animals were in foster care during a busy week, and 53 adoptable animals had gone into foster homes so far this year. She said the shelter typically houses about 180 adoptable animals on average, but the reporting did not include a year-over-year comparison: “I don’t have the numbers to compare to last year,” she said.

Pusco described operational limits the shelter faces: kennel-cleaning formulas estimate about 15 minutes per kennel, which she said translated to roughly 6.5 hours of staff time on a day when the shelter had 26 animals in care. The shelter has purchased additional kennels and uses temporary spaces such as the lobby and staff room to accommodate animals when partners are full; Pusco said some transfer partners were at capacity when recent intake spiked. She said the shelter recently transferred two cats each to Summit County and Eagle County before more animals were surrendered or found as strays the following day.

Under the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that governs the joint Leadville–Lake County shelter, Pusco said the shelter manager will coordinate with the sheriff and the police chief on developing and implementing animal-intake policies and procedures. She said she had emailed “Heath,” “Sheriff Beckman” and “Chief Daley” to begin those conversations and planned additional follow-ups with city staff and the animal-control officer.

Pusco also explained public-health and disease-avoidance measures. She said the shelter does not allow stray animals onto soil because certain pathogens, such as canine parvovirus, can contaminate soil for years. “If a stray animal is found and brought to our facility and it has parvo, the rest of the animals are then immediately exposed,” she said. For unclaimed strays with unknown vaccination status, Pusco said veterinarians will revaccinate for rabies when appropriate; she noted that reclaiming owners must provide proof of rabies vaccination under city and county code, and the shelter verifies vaccines with the listed veterinary clinic where possible.

Longer-term goals Pusco listed include decreasing animals’ length of stay through better photos and social media outreach, hosting low-cost rabies and spay/neuter clinics with local partners if grant funds are secured, and pursuing capital fundraising for facility improvements that would separate stray and adoptable housing. She told commissioners the shelter has discussed partnering with local organizations including Arc Valley and Plan Pethood Leadville on transfers and clinics and has had transfer arrangements with other county shelters; she also noted out-of-state transfers are limited by spay/neuter restrictions.

Pusco said she will present a proposed policy outline to county and city law-enforcement leaders and continue discussions with the animal shelter advisory board at its next meeting. There were no formal motions or votes on shelter matters during the session.

The shelter’s next steps, as explained in the work session, are to: pursue grant opportunities and consider a nonprofit “friends” group; finalize funding and job description for an assistant manager; increase foster and volunteer recruitment and onboarding; coordinate with sheriff and police leadership on intake policies per the IGA; and explore low-cost clinic partnerships if grant funding is obtained.