Collier County commissioner explains controversial no-kill shelter position

The man responsible for comments that suggest getting rid of the no-kill policy at the Department of Animal Services is telling his side of the story after making the controversial comments.

Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall got some pushback after recently commenting on no-kill shelters.

“My thoughts are to risk sounding cruel, and I’m not cruel at all. We’re a no-kill policy, and it seems like, to me, like if you ever go to a no-kill policy, there’s no returning back,” Hall said. “And I can understand that rationale, but when it comes to money and funding, do you want to fund pit bulls and pit bull mixes?”

Hall stirred up controversy by talking about Domestic Animal Services, the no-kill policy and its $5.25 million price tag during a budget workshop last week.

On Monday, Hall explained to WINK News he thought his comments were taken out of context.

“I love the animals as well, what I was talking about in the very next comment, I said, but if we can take a look and find a way to fund some of these other services, maybe by taking care of these pets and these pit bull mixes, which are over 50% of the shelter population, as non-adoptable animals, if we can eliminate that expense, not by killing these animals, but by not taking them in, in the first place,” Hall explained. “If we can eliminate the source of where these animals come from, we can eliminate the cost of taking care of them.”

WINK News reached out to Collier County Commissioner Burt Saunders. He said he supports the no-kill policy as is.

“My view is the current policy has worked well,” Saunders said. “It is expensive, and it requires a lot of effort, but it’s the humane way to treat the animals that are brought to that shelter.”

Collier County’s Domestic Animal Services said they have 445 animals in their care, and they’re expecting 15 more within the next two days.