Wodonga Council decides to team up with Albury Council on animal pound services

The council killed off any hope of redeveloping the facility with the casting vote of mayor Kevin Poulton this week and will strike a deal with Albury to use its replacement pound earmarked for completion in 2023.

Council staff had projected the cost to revamp the Wodonga pound at between $1.85 to $2 million, but Cr Ron Mildren said he was "gobsmacked" at the estimate when he said it cost around $500,000 to build a "substantial" residential home in the city.

Cr Libby Hall, who works in the construction industry, also questioned the figure in the report she claimed clearly had an agenda to ditch the pound.

"I don't believe this reflects our community's expectations around treatment of pets," she said.

"It fails to recognise that without the Wodonga Dog Rescue figures like 92 per cent of re-homing rates wouldn't be possible.

"But we exploit that figure for our own satisfaction. If (the dog rescue) folds we will have a re-homing issue in Wodonga like no other."

Director Leon Schultz admitted the cost estimate was conservative.

"I'd rather put a conservative figure in front of the council than one that is optimistic and seek further funds in due course, however we believe those costs are realistic, be they conservative," he said.

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Cr Graeme Simpfendorfer said comparing the pound upgrade to building a home wasn't a fair comparison.

"Housing costs are a separate issue to a lay person," he said.

"If you are building hundreds of houses of course your costs are down," he said.

"This is a one-off build for a pound and I've got to take the director's advice."

Cr John Watson also backed the staff recommendation.

"I want the best for all our animals in Albury-Wodonga and this region and have the best possible service which I believe is in this report," he said.

But Cr Mildren stood by his objection of going into a deal with Albury.

"To renovate a building which in total might be just bigger than (a $500,000) house is not going to cost us four times that amount to do," he said.

"The report also makes scant reference to laws in NSW and Victoria being different.

"Wodonga dog rego fees are high compared to other Victorian councils already.

"Do we have to pay vet fees, do we have to pay extra to euthanize unwanted dogs, the answer to those questions is unknown until the CEO negotiates a contract and the contract arrangements don't need to be brought back to council for a decision.

"The report indicates $120,000 plus cost of rangers and we anticipate $477,000 in animal rego receipts in next year's budget.

"This sounds like another waste management levy overcharge."

Cr Hall said, in part, funding from South Street ($600,000), Municipal Association of Victoria and Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance subscriptions ($57,000 combined) plus some of the projected budget surplus of $8.9 million could be spent on fixing the pound.

Cr Olga Quilty also identified ways to provide a lifeline to the pound and instead of paying $61,000 extra per year for this service to be done in NSW, the council should be exploring creating a service for neighbouring Victorian councils.

"It would hurt me immensely to put this amount into the budget, however there are things that would hurt me even more," she said.

"One of the arguments to use the services of Albury pound was 'meet government resource sharing ideals'.

"It's not because I was born in the USSR that I sometimes have trouble with sharing government ideals.

"My reasons are purely practical."

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