The Marion Police Department has formalized a new partnership with the Cedar Valley Humane Society to provide animal control services within Marion city limits. The partnership, which goes into effect on Friday, April 1, improves the services available to residents and frees up officers to do other things.
“Having police officers play a role in animal control is not efficient or sustainable for a city of 42,000 people,” said Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller. “As a growing community, we sometimes need to seek new solutions to problems, and I think we’ve found an effective solution in our new partnership with the Cedar Valley Humane Society.”
Going forward, anytime residents encounter a stray domesticated animal, they can take them to the Cedar Valley Humane Society location at 7411 Mt. Vernon Road, Cedar Rapids. Business hours are noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon-4 p.m. on Saturday.
For animal control needs outside of the Cedar Valley Humane Society’s normal hours, residents should contact the Marion Police Department’s non-emergency number 319-377-1511 and a dispatcher will contact the on-call designee to meet the resident at the Mt. Vernon Road facility. Representatives from Cedar Valley Humane Society are available for field calls to retrieve animals that are contained in either a fenced yard or cage.
The organization has veterinarian services available, so they can accept sick or injured domesticated stray animals from residents should the need arise. No services will be available for wild animals and after April 1, 2022, stray animals will no longer be accepted at the Marion Police Department.
The annual contract for this service is $52,000. Prior to the new agreement, pet owners whose animals were picked up as strays, were subjected to a $75 fine plus boarding costs when they picked their pet up. Under the new agreement, owners retrieving their pets will pay an $80 fee for the first day and $20 a day thereafter to cover boarding costs.
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