PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Peninsula Humane Society is closing its Bark House facility due to the steady increase of animal surrenders and “unsustainable, high operating costs.”
Jason Stipp, executive director for the nonprofit organization, said OPHS is facing challenges.
“Despite being at overcapacity, we remain committed to not euthanizing adoptable animals for space,” he said.
Bark House has only closed its doors to taking new animals in, Stipp said.
“We are still open for adoptions, and we will continue to stay open until we get the remaining dogs adopted or transferred,” he said.
As as Friday, there were 59 dogs waiting to be adopted. Once the last one receives a home, the OPHS facility at 1743 Old Olympic Highway in Port Angeles will be closed indefinitely and the property will be put up for sale.
The closure of Bark House will not impact Kitty City operations at 91 South Boyce Road in Sequim.
“We are hoping that the sale of the property will springboard OPHS into the future with the renovations for dogs at Kitty City,” Stipp said.
He added that expenditures were at $140,000 per month while monthly revenues were at $100,000.
“It’s my job to right the ship, and we want to make every donor’s dollar go as far as it can,” Stipp said. “By redirecting our efforts into one facility, we can do a better job of that.
“We feel this is the best direction to go,” he said.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office expressed concern over the facility closure.
“It was such a quick decision and unknown to us that we did not have any time to plan whatsoever,” Undersheriff Lorainne Shore said. “We have no facility to take animals at this time. We have partnered with Welfare Animal Guild (WAG) and Center Valley Rescue in the past. They have been very helpful to us when we have had animals that we need to house that the humane society could not take for whatever reason.”
Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias has set up a meeting for Monday at the Board of Commissioners’ work session with various animal organizations to come up with a temporary solution. The commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.
The humane society’s Form 990 from 2023 showed a 28 percent decrease in revenue, from $1,511,405 in 2022 to $1,183,029 last year. It also showed a 48 percent increase in salary for the previous executive director, Luanne Hinkle, from $95,816 in 2022 to $141,933 last year.
While the 2023 expenses totaled $1,725,676, staff compensation made up $915,127 of that sum, according to tax documents. Animal care expenses were listed as $139,755 on the Form 990.
“We consulted with many people outside the organization, including donors, financial experts and previous board members,” stated a press release from the humane society board. We ran through every possible scenario before coming to the conclusion that this was the best course of action to ensure the longevity of the organization and honor our donors and the investment made in OPHS by the public.”
“Our finances are routinely audited, and we had a successful audit done in March by a reputable CPA firm,” the board stated. “We have good leadership skills within our Board and we are fighting for a worthy cause. It’s all about the animals.”
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Reporting intern Christopher Urquia is a student at Peninsula College. He can be reached by email at christopher.urquia@peninsuladailynews.com.
