Concerns were brought forward at last weeks city council meeting by Judy Hughes on behalf of PAWS. Hughes who is one of the Directors of Intake at PAWS presented concerns about communication between PAWS, the pound, and animal control. She explains though communication has gotten better, the pound and animal control are still incredibly hard to get a hold of.

Hughes also stresses that the location of the pound is an issue as it is on private property and people are not allowed to go there. She argues this is an issue because it is difficult to identify animals simply through photos. She also adds if someone is looking to adopt an animal through the pound, doing so through photos just doesn't work.

Another concern raised was about the 14-day hold on pets. She explains that 14-day clock starts ticking the moment the animal is taken there, not when the photo is posted.  She notes, one cat was found on November 9th, and the photo was not posted until 5 days later.

In response to Hughes concerns, Portage la Prairie City Manager, Nathan Peto explains that the city is working to improve communications. He adds, the policy change to give all pets 14 days at the pound went up from three days in hopes to reunite more owners with their pets. Peto notes the city is also working to improve the timeliness in which photos get posted, and adds the city will be putting an adoption feature on their website. Peto also explains the city has also implemented a plan to neuter the male cats in the feral cat colonies throughout the city. He explains this aims to keep the cities cat population down.