Montville ― In the town’s animal control facility on Nov. 30, Animal Control Officer Christian Swanson stood between two rows of indoor kennels, five dogs and eight puppies inside.

The facility’s sole room is filled with the thick odor of ammonia and wet fur, with a damp, earthy quality.

It’s an odor Swanson and the town’s two other part-time officers haven’t quite been able to wash away.

“No matter how hard we try, it always smells in here,” she admitted.

“It’s a really difficult working environment,” added Swanson, speaking loudly over the barking dogs. “I don’t think it’s healthy for (the animals) or for officers.”

State and local officials are looking at multiple options to secure the last $1.5 million needed for a $2.2 million project to build a new animal shelter. The effort comes as a new state law threatens injunctions on municipalities whose animal shelters violate state regulations.

The law has created a sense of urgency in town to get the project done.

The town recently applied a second time for a Community Investment Fund grant from the state Bond Commission, Land Use and Development Director Liz Burdick said. The commission turned down its original proposal in January.

Montville is one of 55 municipalities eligible to receive the grant, which is designed to help “distressed municipalities,” said state senator Cathy Osten, D-Sprague.

The town has been discussing options for the shelter as early as 2018, Burdick said, at which time a public safety committee was formed. It discussed multiple options, including replacing the facility or sending the town’s strays to a facility in a neighboring town.

In September, Osten, state representatives Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, and state senator Martha Marx, D- New London submitted a proposal to the bonding commission for $1.5 million, which did not make it onto the Dec. 15 agenda for approval.

The decision on the bond request rests with Gov. Ned Lamont, Osten said Thursday, adding that he is the one who gets to decide what makes it onto the bond agenda.

Current shelter consistently fails inspections

The state Department of Agriculture regulates the conditions for animal shelters in the state. It inspects the current 57-year-old animal shelter at 225 Maple Avenue every year.

“The current facility is in severe disrepair...” the legislators wrote in their request to the Bond Commission. “It has failed state inspections year after year and under PA 23-138, will likely no longer be grandfathered in under the new regulations.”

“This public act could effect the town by forcing them to either repair the existing structure which has been deemed beyond repair or build a new facility. It is imperative that we act now in building a new facility so that services are not disrupted to Montville and Salem residents.”

Salem also uses the Montville shelter.

Until now, inspection failures have gone largely without consequence, said Swanson, adding that inspectors issue a report listing all the things that must be fixed by next year with no real penalty if they are not fixed by that date.

But the new law requires the state Department of Agriculture to better enforce those regulations.

The law, which went into effect Oct. 1, gives the commissioner who inspects the shelter the power to seek an injunction from the Attorney General against any town that fails to fix whatever is wrong with the shelter’s conditions.

The commissioner must give a report to the animal control officer with orders for any violations it finds. Within 30 days, the officer must give that report to the chief elected official of their town and the police department and seek to fix the issues.

“The existing municipal pound regulations grandfathered certain facilities, so while inspections were conducted and violations were noted, numerous facilities were exempt from enforcement unless they made renovations,” said Rebecca Eddy, communications director for the state Department of Agriculture.

“Under the new regulations, there is an immediate compliance deadline for most requirements. The exception is new construction to address certain structural requirements which has a phase-in period becoming fully effective January 1, 2029,” Eddy said.

Conditions at the current shelter violate agriculture department guidelines

The shelter was built in 1967, according to assessor’s records.

Swanson noted several features of the facility that were in violation of state Department of Agriculture’s regulations.

“It’s so old ― the heating system isn’t spectacular,” Swanson said, pointing toward heat lamps that dangled above the enclosures and explaining that “there is a regulation for keeping it warm in the facilities.”

Those regulations say shelters must have mechanical heating and cooling systems able to keep an indoor ambient temperature between 55 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, unless a state-licensed veterinarian says an animal needs it hotter or colder.

The building also lacks mechanical ventilation, Swanson said. The regulations mandate this kind of ventilation to minimize odor and ammonia levels, risk of disease transmission and stress on the dogs and cats.

There were no cats in the shelter on Nov. 30, but Swanson said that when there are, they are housed in the same open room with dogs barking at them from mere feet away.

“It’s like having a predator staring at you all the time,” she added.

In the new facility, outside animal kennels will be larger and have partitions in between so the animals can’t go “nose-to-nose” Swanson said.

In the current facility’s outdoor enclosures, the dogs can touch their snouts through the chain link fence, something she said is stressful for the dogs and can encourage cage-fighting.

The appropriate space, and cleanliness, of a new facility would be nice to have, Swanson said.

Swanson recently announced her resignation from the position of animal control officer.

"We are currently working on how we will staff this position, however there will be no interruption in animal control services to the Town of Montville," said Chief Wilfred Blanchette. "We are exploring viable options for temporary and long-term solutions to the vacancy. "

Contracting bids come back for the project

In January 2022, the council appropriated $800,000 of American Rescue Act Plan funds for architectural and design work for a new shelter. Whatever was left from that design budget would assist with construction costs.

The town then paid engineering firm Silver Petrucelli + Associates to design the new building, costing around $125,000, leaving around $675,000 left to build the new facility. Silver Petrucelli presented the designs at an Oct. 24 meeting of the Planning and Zoning commission.

The commission approved the site plan for the project in November. It expires in five years, Burdick said, with the potential for a five-year extension without having to approve a site plan again.

Bids for the project came back Dec. 11. Seven contractors had bid on the project, with costs ranging from $2.13 million to $3.37 million. The three lowest bids have been sent to Silver Petrucellii for evaluation.

If the lowest bid is approved at $2.13 million, the town would still need around $1.5 million, either from the state grant or bond request, before it can start building the new shelter.

“My hope is that one of them gets approved because the animal shelter is in terrible, terrible condition,” Burdick said.

d.drainville@theday.com