City Of Collinsville To Evict Nonprofit Animal Rescue On City Property

A Collinsville animal rescue group is frustrated after the city said it will not be renewing its lease.

The city owns the property and building and leased it to Ward-Wiseman Animal Haven starting in 2008.

The city says it doesn’t charge rent and pays for utilities and repairs, but the new City Managers say it’s not the best use of taxpayer money.

The rescue group says they’re doing vital work for the community.

The rescue has been told it has to be out of the building by Jan. 1, 2025.

Board members at Ward-Wiseman Animal Haven say they’re still trying to work out a plan to make sure all the animals are safe.

Ward-Wiseman Animal Haven sits on city property in Collinsville near 156th Street North and 129th East Avenue.

The group says they funded the building construction in 2008 through donations, but city leaders say the city also contributed to that funding.

Coza Huffman, the Ward-Wiseman Animal Haven Board Chair, is upset the lease isn’t being renewed.

"We had come to an agreement and we were told it was in review,” said Huffman. “Then, we get a new city manager, and we get a letter that says we're not renewing your lease."

Collinsville City Manager Chuck Ralls says he doesn’t think the rescue should be funded by taxpayer money.

"In my opinion, is unethical, it's fiscally irresponsible, and borderline illegal,” said Ralls. “Fortunately, the funds were going to a city-owned property, but we were expending quite a bit of funds annually."

Ralls says it comes down to the numbers.

He says during the 17 years of the agreement, the city has spent more than $300,000 on the rescue.

"They really were not meeting the needs of the city,” said Ralls. “Last year we rehomed through the city 215 animals, and they did approximately 30 of those. The relationship, the cooperation, was not there."

Board members say their shelter gets calls every day from people needing to find a new home for animals or people finding them dumped.

They believe closing the shelter will only make the problem worse.

Volunteers say they don’t want to see their hard work go to waste.

"I volunteer a lot of my time and energy into getting animals adopted and helping the shelter, fundraising, and promoting, and to think that I've just been wasting my time giving my money to the city is just sad,” said Allison Mitchell, who also sits on the board for Ward-Wiseman Animal Haven.

The city says it doesn’t have a plan yet for how to use the shelter building.