BILLINGS– The City of Billings is looking for temporary animal shelter attendants and volunteers to staff the 1735 Monad Road facility.
The city needs the staffing, because its contract with Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter (YVAS) ended July 1, leaving Billings without the services to hold and care for stray and lost animals.
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“The strays, the dogs that are found lost in the neighborhood, we’re asking for the citizens’ help on the Facebook posts to reunite those if possible,” said Assistant Chief of Police Shawn Mayo.
Related: Billings shifts animal shelter services to Animal Control starting July 1
Mayo told MTN there are five temporary animal shelter attendant positions available, through the City of Billings website.
“Basically, kind of attendant type of activities to whatever dogs, cats, animals we have to feed, water, clean up after,” Mayo described.
Mayo also encourages people to reach out to Billings police about volunteer opportunities. Staffing the building will allow the city to fill the 42 dog and more than 50 cat kennels, which are empty.
The temporary positions will last until the city begins a long-term contract with an animal shelter.
YVAS had asked for $45,833 per month to service the city. The city rejected the proposal, saying it was outside its budget.
“We just find ourselves at a spot now where it monetarily is not feasible at this point. And so, we have to look at options,” said Mayo.
The city is trying to renegotiate with YVAS, offering a temporary 10% increase in monthly payments. This would bring payments from approximately $30,000 per month to $33,000 per month.
These monthly payments would continue until YVAS or another shelter agreed to a long-term contract.
“We will have a committee then that will evaluate each of those proposals,” said Interim City Administrator Kevin Iffland. “We’ve got a shelter here that’s fully functional that we can offer… for that potential entity that might want to put in a proposal.”
Related: ‘Bigger burden’: Billings animal shelter laments end of animal control partnership
Iffland told MTN Tuesday afternoon that YVAS has not responded to their monthly payment offer.
“We’ve not had any contact in regards to a month-to-month agreement,” said Iffland.
The Monad Road building used to house YVAS, until shelter staff and animals had to evacuate due to a September incinerator malfunction, which filled the building with smoke.
Related: State fines Billings $5,000 over incinerator violations tied to 2025 animal shelter incident
The city had allowed the FBI to burn methamphetamine in the incinerator.
YVAS staff have not returned to the Monad Road building since the malfunction happened. The shelter has relocated to 5056 Jellison Road in Billings.
