Delaware SPCA to close Stanton shelter
The Delaware SPCA is closing its flagship Stanton shelter next month due to mounting debt, just one year after spending more than $500,000 to renovate the facility.
The organization's executive director, Andrea Perlak, also announced that she is resigning from the organization at the end of this month.
Perlak said Thursday that closing the Stanton facility had been in the works for months as the shelter fought to stay afloat. Located at 455 Stanton Christiana Road, the shelter is one of four within five square miles in New Castle County, she said. It offers low-cost veterinarian visits, vaccines and spay or neuter surgeries.
Money from selling the property will go toward supporting the SPCA's Georgetown location, which is Sussex County's only animal shelter.
"It's the best decision from a neutral perspective when you consider what works best for the organization and the animals," said Perlak, who joined the Delaware SPCA in 2014. "When you have four shelters down in a small area and yet only one in Sussex County, it makes sense to reallocate those resources."
Several SPCA board members did not return phone calls for comment.
Last summer, the SPCA spent more than $500,000 to build new dog kennels and cat crates, Perlak said, all of which can be transferred to the Georgetown location. Proceeds from selling the Stanton shelter – which Perlak said is on the market for $9.95 million and has already received several bids – will go toward a restricted fund used solely to support the Georgetown shelter.
About 20 employees will lose their jobs as of the June 17 closure, though Perlak said many area shelters, like the Cecil County SPCA and Faithful Friends, may take them on.
The Stanton shelter lists 25 cats and dogs as available on its website. Perlak said most of the animals will be adopted out before the June 17 closure date, but for those in foster care or not yet accounted for, the Georgetown shelter will become their new home. No animals will be euthanized due to the closure, Perlak stressed.
The Delaware SPCA first alerted supporters to the shelter closing in a Facebook post Wednesday.
“By reallocating resources from an area that is over-served to an area that is under-served, we will not only be helping more animals and their owners but we will be creating the most stable animal welfare organization in the state of Delaware,” the message said.
Lori Sabin, a Wilmington pet sitter who donated $250 to the Delaware SPCA last year, questioned why organization leaders plowed so much money into the renovation if they couldn’t balance their books.
STORY: Brandywine SPCA to close Stanton shelter
STORY: Delaware's two largest animal shelters refuse strays
“So many people go there for spay and neuter services to do the right thing,” she said. “This is just a nightmare.”
Sabin blamed the state Office of Animal Welfare for awarding a three-year, $6.5 million sheltering contract to an out-of-state provider, Brandywine Valley SPCA in Chester County, Pennsylvania, over the Delaware SPCA.
Animal welfare office director Hetti Brown reiterated this week in an email that the state selected the organization with the strongest bid. Brandywine Valley SPCA’s bid for this year, its first year handling sheltering, rabies quarantine and adoption services throughout Delaware, came in nearly $800,000 lower than the Delaware SPCA’s proposal.
Under state law, competitive contracts such as this must be awarded to "the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose bid meets the requirements and evaluation criteria set forth in the invitation to bid."
Brandywine Valley SPCA renovated a 12,500-square-foot building in old New Castle to serve as its Delaware shelter, creating more competition for the Delaware SPCA.
Asked how the Stanton shelter’s closure would affect Delaware’s homeless animals, Brown said: “The public will find alternatives at other shelters."
In late 2013, another no-kill Delaware shelter, Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in Georgetown, closed due to mounting bills.
Perlak said Thursday that the Delaware SPCA made it very clear what would happen if another organization was brought into the state.
"We said if we don't receive this (contract), we would have to shut down a shelter," Perlak said. "And the state chose to bring in another vendor."
The News Journal has chronicled the Delaware SPCA’s financial troubles for months. In March, both the Delaware SPCA and First State Animal Center and SPCA in Camden stopped accepting stray animals picked up by state animal control. At the time, the Delaware SPCA’s website listed fewer than 50 animals available at its two shelters, less than one-third of capacity, according to state records.
Plagued by budget deficits and staff layoffs, the 143-year-old organization adopted out more than 1,800 animals last year, according to its statistics. To raise revenue, Perlak, a CPA, had planned to open a $1.4 million dog day care at the Stanton site, helped by a $600,000 grant from the Longwood Foundation. She also hoped to build a dog park and retail development on SPCA-owned land fronting the shelter.
The Delaware SPCA is in talks with the Longwood Foundation to transfer the grant money downstate to the Georgetown shelter, Perlak said.
When the Delaware SPCA renovated its existing facility, the organization hired a company owned by its then-board vice president David Heaney.
Renovation records obtained by The News Journal last year showed that Perlak approved paying $260,000 to Heaney’s Healthcare Facilities Solutions of Wilmington to renovate the SPCA’s new wellness center, administrative offices, cat rooms and dog kennels. At the time, Perlak said the firm was selected through competitive bidding and that Heaney recused himself from voting.
Heaney has not responded to repeated requests for comment. He resigned as the SPCA’s board president in November, joining five other board members who have left since 2014, when Perlak became director. Last fiscal year — Perlak's first full year at the helm — the SPCA reported a $1 million deficit on a $2.7 million budget. In the previous fiscal year, the organization's deficit was less than $30,000, according to IRS records.
Brandywine Valley SPCA director Adam Lamb said he approached the Delaware SPCA in recent months to lease the Stanton shelter for $100,0000 a year, allowing the organization to concentrate its efforts in Georgetown. Lamb said he was rebuffed by Perlak, leading his organization to spend more than $700,000 renovating a shelter in old New Castle. Starting June 21, the Brandywine Valley SPCA will also staff an off-site adoption center at PetSmart at 1390 N. DuPont Highway in Dover.
Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn. Contact Margie Fishman at (302) 324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.