At their most recent meeting, the Kalona City Council received representatives from PAWS & More animal shelter regarding their annual funding from the city. According to City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh, the shelter is seeking an additional $800 in funds for the year. He says, “We fund them annually at the $3,000 level for the current budget year that we’re in. And they made a request for a little bit more additional funding based on the numbers that they’re seeing in our community, and their increased expenses and so forth.”

Schlabaugh says the city approved the continuation of the $3,000 annual funding, but made no decision about the additional funding at the council meeting. The finance committee will discuss the shelter’s request at their next meeting, and present it at the first council meeting in February. PAWS & More is located in Washington, but services the whole county and receives funding from the cities and county. Last year, the shelter received a total of 799 animals.