Humane Society of Eastern Oregon Pet Rescue volunteer Saige Borrego, 14, Hermiston, feeds the dogs at the shelter in January. The city council will discuss renewing its contract with the animal shelter at its Monday meeting.

The city of Hermiston’s contract with the Eastern Oregon Humane Society Pet Rescue will be a topic of discussion at Monday’s city council meeting after the city received complaints from residents about how the animal shelter is run.

The council will discuss a report prepared by City Manager Byron Smith, which concludes that Pet Rescue is meeting the requirements of its contract with the city and recommends the city council continue with the contract.

Pet Rescue has a $30,000 contract with the city to house animals the city has collected and to administer the city’s dog licensing program.

Suzanne Phillips, who runs a blog dedicated to criticism of Pet Rescue, was joined by three other residents during a January city council meeting in encouraging the city to examine the humane society’s practices. They claimed the shelter had a higher euthanasia rate than necessary and turns away volunteers and offers of help regularly.

“We don’t need to settle for substandard practice and care,” Phillips said.

Pet Rescue owner Beau Putnam declined to comment, but has said through Facebook and other venues that opponents’ claims are misleading.

Putnam told the Hermiston Herald that while the shelter does have to euthanize some animals not adopted in order to make room for new ones, the shelter’s 39 percent kill rate also includes animals that are too aggressive or sick to adopt out and those that owners specifically bring in to be euthanized.

He said the shelter welcomes volunteers and recently announced that the Oregon Humane Society will increase the number of animals it takes from Pet Rescue starting this month.

In other news, the council will also approve the final language of two ballot measures for the May election. One asks voters to approve an updated version of the city’s charter and the other amends that charter to change the city’s municipal judge from an elected position to a appointed one.

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Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536.