Big changes coming for Benton canine shelter after criticism for killing 2 Rottweilers
After criticism from residents about how calls about dangerous dogs were being handled in Benton County, leaders promised to make changes.
Those changes are starting to take shape with the number of their canine shelter staff being doubled, and soon the footprint of the shelter itself also will nearly double in size.
Benton County commissioners recently approved sending a projected $1.6 million project to expand the canine shelter out for bids. They also doubled the budget for animal control services.
Once a contractor is selected, the expansion plans will see a second building added to the shelter property in Kennewick, bringing the total space to about 5,500 square feet on the 1-acre lot.
It will nearly double the number of kennels available, with a total of 60 to 70 units for strays, medical intakes, quarantines, puppies and dangerous dogs.
The shelter also has outdoor kennels.
The Benton County Canine Shelter is at 116 Grant Place, just west of the intersection of Edison Street and Canal Drive.
Dangerous dog calls
Staff at the shelter has grown to five full-time animal control officers, and they’ve completely taken over dangerous dog calls from sheriff’s deputies.
Previously, deputies were responsible for checking on dangerous dog reports in the county when animal control officers weren’t available.
That change was spurred by an incident last summer when two loose family dogs were shot by Benton County Sheriff’s deputies in a residential neighborhood.
The county received significant push-back after body camera footage of the incident was released.
Deputies were concerned the dogs were potentially dangerous and shot two rottweilers in a field between homes, a third ran away. The dogs had gotten out of a yard when a gate was accidentally left unlocked and were running around near a trail off 10th Avenue in an unincorporated area of Kennewick.
Beyond barking at another dog through a fence, they had not received any calls that the rottweilers had tried to attack anyone.
The owner fought the county on declaring the surviving dog dangerous and won.
The county had also faced criticism about the limits of what deputies and code enforcement could do when it came to dog attacks.
Commissioners settled a claim against the county in 2023 for $1.6 million with a mother and son who were mauled by a pack of dogs near Prosser. Neighbors had called deputies and code enforcement dozens of times after near attacks and animals being killed between 2019 and 2022.
The owners of the dogs died before they could go to trial. The property owner is currently being sued by the family that was attacked. Their attorneys told the Herald that dangerous dogs remained on the property at the time the lawsuit was filed in June 2024.
Another man with an aggressive dog was arrested at the same property around that time for threatening to shoot a neighbor who fired a shot off to scare the dog away.
In another incident, two dogs previously declared dangerous got out of a yard in an unincorporated neighborhood off of Canal Drive and attacked a Kennewick business owner in Sept. 2023. Billene “Billi” Cameron died from her injuries.
The owner of the dogs, Sara Amilia Madrigal, 35, was sentenced to 10 months in jail with work release.
Big changes
Shelter supervisor Joshua Castilleja told the Herald in an email that they’re making a lot of changes very quickly, but they’re excited to better server the county’s needs.
“It can be a lot at times, with trying to implement new things in a small amount of time,” he said. “We are all very excited about the new addition to our department. It will be so much better to help so many more dogs then we ever have.”
Like the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter, which serves Kennewick, Richland and Pasco, they’ve struggled with not having enough space in recent years. The TCAS recently opened its new larger, more modern shelter in Pasco.
Benton County’s plans for the shelter expansion call for the contractor to do limited interior demolition work in the existing building and some renovations. They would also construct a second 2,300-square foot building.
Veterinary and administrative services will be in the main building, along with about 30 kennels. The new building will hold more general use kennels, as well as space for quarantined and dangerous dogs.
“We just want to thank everyone for all their patience with us. With the amount of doggies that need to come in, we haven’t nearly had the space to help as many as we want to,” Castilleja said. “The community has helped us a lot with holding on to canines until we can bring them in and have always helped with donations to our vet office or to our shelter directly.”
The shelter doesn’t just do dangerous dog calls and stray intakes though. They also have dogs available for adoption.
“We always want people to come in and say hi,” he said. “Come look at all our adoptable doggies. We also have a litter of 11 puppies right now, Pitty/husky mixes. They are 6 weeks old at the moment.”
The shelter is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Canine control officers are now on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
