New Plan Aims to Help with Stray Animal Problem in Cloquet

Plan would provide free animal micro-chipping and spaying and neutering

CLOQUET, Minn. – Cloquet officials have a new short-term plan to help with the city’s stray animal problem.

This comes after the shocking news last summer that the Friends of Animals shelter was to shut down, leaving Cloquet with no long-term plan for animal control.

Cloquet officials hope to work with Carlton County and the Fond du Lac Band to provide free micro-chipping and spaying and neutering to animals in the Carlton County area.

The plan was presented Wednesday at a Cloquet city council work session. It’s meant to be a short-term solution to reduce the number of stray animals.

“We’re hoping this is a step in the right direction, we’re going to try it, see if that works and if not, we’ll come back and try to look for other ideas,” said Cloquet City Administrator Aaron Reeves.

Meanwhile, former Friends of Animals volunteers say, while they think the plan is a good first step, only a new taxpayer funded animal shelter will solve the problem.

“You get a good board, you get a good administration that’s going to look over that and make sure that everything is done, the money is being spent wisely and properly and efficiently and effectively, that’s what I think we need, we absolutely do need another shelter,” said former volunteer Jim Nelson.

Officials say building and maintaining a new animal shelter in Carlton County would cost about $2 million.

If they decide to move forward with the plan to provide spaying and neutering and animal micro-chipping, the money to fund the services would come out of pre-existing budgets for animal control.