Penn Hills contract with Hoffman Kennels extended

After a lengthy search for a new animal control company and coming up short, Penn Hills council has decided to continue contracting with the same company through November 2021.

Council voted unanimously to enter into a 29-month contract with Hoffman Kennels. Penn Hills will be billed $2,000 per month. The new contract reflects a $500 per month savings, but excludes a roving patrol service.

The new contract also said it will hold stray dogs that are unlicensed and of good health for 72 hours before placing it elsewhere or having it euthanized. The previous contract obligated the company to hold strays for 48 hours.

As to proposed amendments from an animal advocacy group, Hoffman said in a letter to the municipality: “We are not entertaining any of the proposed amendments in the Penn Hills proposal. The attached contract is what our animal control service can provide.”

The agreement came with a couple of contingencies from Penn Hills Council. Councilman John Petrucci said he wants the company to provide the municipality with a typed report that includes information such as dates and times of animal pick-ups.

“The invoices from Hoffman are horrible. They’re hand-written chicken scratch. We can’t understand what they’re doing,” he said.

Council also wanted the company to begin its service immediately instead of on July 1. They requested the services to be prorated through the end of June. The former contract with Hoffman expired June 12, which resulted in a call over the weekend that did not get answered, Petrucci said.

Manager Scott Andrejchak said he sent the company a letter Tuesday with the conditions but has yet to hear back from the owner, Gary Hoffman.

“We’re looking to get off on the right foot with them so we can continue to provide a basic service,” Andrejchak said.

The agreement with Hoffman came amid residents’ complaints against the Delmont company.

Brittney Norris of PAWsitive Voice, an animal advocacy group, criticized Hoffman Kennels for having “unethical business practices and inhumane treatment of animals.” She and others urged council to make amendments to the municipality’s contract with Hoffman.

Instead of making amendments, council began a search for a new company altogether.

Municipal staff submitted a request for proposals from area animal control companies and received one, Andrejchak said.

“It did not meet our needs,” Andrejchak said of the proposal, adding that staff issued another RFP but came up short yet again. “In the course of this process, we discovered that there’s a limited number of companies that provide this service in Western Pennsylvania.”

Since those complaints were made public, the municipality agreed to post brief descriptions of lost animals to its website. PAWsitive Voice also launched a website – pennhillspets.com – that allows pet owners to enter information about their pets, including a photo, brief description, name and the owner’s phone number and email.

Norris said council’s hiring of Hoffman Kennels is a “pretty heavy blow” as the new contract ignored many of the group’s proposed amendments.

She said PAWsitive Voice had proposed the kennel take photographs of animals they capture and that workers there would use the group’s website to improve the database. The amendments, she said, would help owners reunite with their pets.

“We worked on those amendments for over a year,” Norris said. “They weren’t much … we just wanted some transparency to have people understand what happens to these animals. So we’re hoping (Penn Hills) is still going to work with us to get photos of the animals at least.”

She said she will continue to raise funds to buy kennels and related equipment to be kept at a space in the Penn Hills Police Department. Norris said the $2,500 goal is still $400 short.