A county speaker described planned changes at the local animal shelter, staffing shortages and a partnership to expand spay-and-neuter services.

The speaker said the shelter’s building has been reconfigured to include an adoption room, quarantine space and a medical room intended for spay-and-neuter procedures provided by University of Illinois students. The speaker said the shelter intended to equip a medical room and host periodic visits by U of I students to perform surgeries.

The speaker said shelter manager Linda is currently handling roughly eight hours of hands-on cleaning weekly and additional administrative duties, leaving her overworked. The speaker described difficulty retaining staff, saying a recent hire from Chrisman has underperformed by leaving early and not completing tasks. The speaker said adoption hours will be expanded to give prospective adopters more time to interact with animals.

The shelter reportedly had "almost 40" animals in care in the prior week; the speaker said new hires and reorganized duties are needed to provide adequate daily care and administrative support. "She's doing the best she can with what she has," the speaker said of Linda.

No formal county action or funding commitment was recorded during the meeting. Board members and other attendees asked questions and offered informal updates; the speaker said the shelter is pursuing the student surgical partnership and plans to identify scheduled dates for the spay-and-neuter visits.

The discussion also covered the need for an additional employee to handle paperwork and computer work and a separate part-time worker for cleaning and kennel maintenance.