The Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter (YVAS) will no longer accept stray and lost animals from within the Billings city limits, following notice from the city that it is changing providers for sheltering services.
Shelter officials posted the announcement on its website and social media platforms, noting they were informed of city's decision, which is pending City Council approval, on Wednesday night.
In July, the city's Animal Control assumed control of the main shelter facility on Monad Road and shifted to a month-to-month contract with YVAS for sheltering services. YVAS had relocated to a new, smaller facility on Jellison Road after a November 2025 incident when a malfunction occured in the facility while law enforcement was burning seized methamphetamine, which sickened YVAS employees and forced the relocation of animals.
Watch previous Q2 coverage:
Shelters officials said they have continued offering sheltering services without the certainty of a full-time contract, incurring $120,000 in expenses over the last four months.
“We knew continuing to provide these services without compensation was financially unsustainable, but we also knew that our community had spent nearly two decades trusting us to care for their lost animals,” said YVAS Executive Director Triniti Halverson in a written statement. “We genuinely believed we could find a path forward with the City, and we did everything we reasonably could to avoid reaching this point. To say we are disappointed by this outcome would be an understatement.”
YVAS urged community members concerned about the future of sheltering services to email Billings City Council members at Council@BillingsMT.gov
Related: ‘Bigger burden’: Billings animal shelter laments end of animal control partnership
