Things have gone well since the Bismarck Police Department took over management of the animal impound from the Pet Connection Humane Society. So well, the Bismarck City Commission has decided to reconsider pursuing a mill levy for an animal shelter.

Police Chief Deb Ness recommended the city hold off on a measure that will dedicate a half mill to construction, operation and maintenance of an animal shelter. Plans were to put the measure on the November general election ballot, a 60 percent majority would be needed to approve it.

Commissioner Sandi Tabor said that in budget committee meetings there were several discussions on how to pay for the animal impound. Ness said that things were going fairly well with the adoption process and all the other aspects of operating animal control.

"In light of where we are, the budget committee is suggesting to hold off putting it on the ballot; in fact, we may not need to have the levied money at all,"Tabor said. "But tonight is the night we need to make a decision. Sept. 7 is the cut-off date to put something on the ballot, and we have no regular meeting between now and then. If we do decide we need it, we can bring it back and we may be able to wait until the June of 2008 election or we may not need it at all."

Commissioner Connie Sprynczynatyk moved to table the issue, and since the commission has yet to request placing it on the November ballot, it is effectively on a back burner.

Officer Steve Schneider said that since the police department took over the impound in mid-July, it has handled 45 animals - a mixture of cats and dogs. Of those, 18 have been reclaimed by owners, 23 adopted and four cats are still in the pound on their four-day quarantine, after which they are put up for adoption.

"We've gotten donations of food and so forth from groups, individuals and businesses, so we're in pretty good shape that way," Schneider said. "As far as the animals, we've been in really good shape. We have people in the community and outside of it that have been willing to take them. In fact, we've got a list of people looking for animals."

Schneider said that the facility is an impound and not a shelter. Animals are given 15 days to either be returned to their owner or are adopted, after which they are destroyed. The pound does not accept animals that people want to drop off. But Schneider said that there have been a few instances where they have shown up to work to find abandoned animals, and there is no choice but to take them in.

Ness said there is a lot of interest from people who want to volunteer. She said she has a list of 14 people who are being screened and interviewed and are willing to provide their time to work with the animals. If the volunteer program is successful, it will go a long way in keeping the city from pursuing a mill levy.

"We plan on having the volunteers doing the cleaning and maintenance," Schneider said. "There are a couple of other things we're tossing around, but we'll wait until we see what we have for volunteers before we make any decisions."

Currently the pound is being run by the Bismarck Police Department's Schneider and Lynnette Jacobs, along with the Mandan animal control officer. Running the pound has kept them busy, Schneider said.

Anyone interested in adopting a pet from the pound can either call the police department's animal control division to find out what's available or check out the division's page on the police department's Web site. Schneider said they try to keep the site updated, though they don't always get to it every day. By contacting animal control, a time can be arranged to look at the animals.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)