EUGENE, Ore. — The City of Eugene is proposing significant budget cuts that could leave the city without a clear system to care for stray or neglected animals. Among those cuts is the ending of its longstanding contract with Greenhill Humane Society and the elimination of two animal welfare officer positions within the Eugene Police Department.
Greenhill, a private nonprofit animal rescue, says it will continue operating with or without the City’s funding. But without a formal contract, services like stray intake and animal welfare investigations would no longer be coordinated through the city. That burden, Greenhill warns, will fall on private rescues and individual citizens.
Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner says the proposed cuts are part of a broader strategy to preserve the department’s core mission…