Salina City Commissioners Monday voted 5 – 0 to privatizing operations of Salina Animal Services.

On August 19th Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued to solicit proposals from interested parties for animal shelter management and operation services. The City of Salina received 1 proposal from Prairie Paws Animal Shelter Inc.
Prairie Paws Animal Shelter Inc. has met all the requirements as laid out in the RFP.

Commissioners praised Prairie Paws, which currently operate facilities in Manhattan, Ottawa and Emporia. The proposal seeks to utilize their Manhattan facility to primarily support Salina animal shelter operation at a proposed net total cost of $830,000.

City staff will now negotiate a contract with Prairie Paws and bringing the contract back to the City Commission for approval. The anticipated timeline for transition would be within the month of December, with the intent of completing the handover by January 1, 2027.