Three animal-welfare organizations say government funding from fiscal year 2026 remained unpaid after the territory entered a new budget year, with the Humane Society of St. Thomas and the Animal Care Center of St. John identifying a combined $68,750 in outstanding payments. Ruff Start STX separately said it had received none of its funding for the year, though it did not specify the amount outstanding.
The organizations described the delays in an October 5–6 email exchange, days after the fiscal year ended September 30. Their accounts renew concerns raised earlier this year about delayed government support for nonprofits that provide animal sheltering, rescue and spay-and-neuter services across the territory.
Randy Knight, president of the Humane Society of St. Thomas’s board of directors, wrote on October 5 that the government still owed the organization its final $43,750 payment for fiscal year 2026, along with $12,500 for spay-and-neuter work. Together, those payments totaled $56,250.
Mr. Knight also said the Humane Society had not received signed grant documents for the year and criticized communication with the Department of Agriculture. He said the organization’s annual budget was approaching $2 million and that it was on track to perform more than 2,000 spay-and-neuter procedures this year.
“If the private sector including the nonprofits ran their businesses like GVI, they would be insolvent, bankrupt, and out of business,” Mr. Knight wrote. He urged attention to government funding for animal-welfare nonprofits, arguing that they perform services the government is unable to provide.
The following morning, Ryan Moore, shelter manager at the Animal Care Center of St. John, reported that the center was still awaiting a final $12,500 payment that was supposed to have been paid on September 1. He said the organization had contacted Agriculture both before and after that date to ask about the payment.
“Multiple emails have been sent to Department Of Agriculture with no replies,” Mr. Moore wrote on October 6. His account placed the expected payment more than a month past the date he said it was due.
Ruff Start STX founder Katie Nelson added her organization’s experience to the exchange late on October 5. “Ruff Start has not yet received any portion of our 2026 funds,” she wrote.
“Granted, we had to redo our paperwork to accommodate the new requirements,” Ms. Nelson wrote. She said the revised paperwork had been submitted months earlier and that she was being told it was still being processed.
The October accounts follow payment problems documented by The Consortium in July. On July 1, the Humane Society of St. Thomas said it was owed $181,250 and would sharply reduce animal intake and spay-and-neuter services because of the delays.
At that time, the organization said it would no longer be able to accept all lost, stray, abandoned or homeless dogs and cats on the government’s behalf. It also announced a reduction in high-volume spay-and-neuter services and directed animal-welfare inquiries to Agriculture.
In a July 2 follow-up, The Consortium reported that Senator Angel Bolques Jr. had been told by Finance that a Humane Society payment had been processed. R.E.A.L. Cruzan Cats reported receiving a partial payment, while the Animal Care Center of St. John said it was still awaiting its allocation.
The latest correspondence provides new accounts of outstanding support following those earlier payment concerns. The $68,750 identified by the Humane Society and the Animal Care Center does not include Ruff Start’s unspecified unpaid funding.
