Mar. 9—In a feisty display before the Niagara Falls City Council Wednesday night, the city’s dog sheltering provider blasted back at criticisms from what she and others characterized as disgruntled former supporters.

Kelli Swagel, widely known by her business moniker, “The Pit Chic,” based on her rescue and training work with pit bulls, told the council that she wanted to address “concerns” brought to city lawmakers about the care and treatment of animals brought to her Grand Island shelter. She also suggested that a prominent critic is engaged in illegally interfering with her business.

“Tortious interference. This is when a person intentionally damages another’s business relationship with someone else, leading to loss. This can occur in a number of ways, but the most common is when a wrong-doer is encouraging someone to break a contract with you,” Swagel said.

The shelter owner was referring to Janine Gallo, owner of the Xtra Dime Back bottle and can redemption center in Buffalo, who has previously expressed concerns about the shelter’s operation. Gallo, who is in the process of establishing a shelter for animals at a location on Saunders Settlement Road and has expressed interest in sheltering stray dogs for the city, has encouraged council members to revisit the dog sheltering contract with Swagel.

In particular, Gallo has claimed that the Pit Chic contract with the city was done without a request for proposals from multiple potential vendors. Swagel said Wednesday that she approached the Falls about a dog sheltering deal after entering into a similar arrangement with the City of Tonawanda.

“I was contacted by the City of Tonawanda, which needs a place to house its stray dogs since they received an early termination notice from their current provider, Swagel said.

After working with representatives of the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, which oversees the operations of animal shelters, Swagel said she received a shelter certification and began her contract with the City of Tonawanda in April 20233.

“It has been no secret that the Niagara County SPCA was eliminating its municipal contracts,” Swagel said. “This was something I could help assist with based on my experience. I contacted municipalities to find out their needs, including, but not limited to, the city of Niagara Falls.”

In September, Falls council members voted 4-1 to enter into a dog sheltering contract with The Pit Chic, Inc. at a cost of $20,270 a month. The agreement, which runs through Dec. 31, 2024, covers the sheltering of up to 17 dogs per day, with the city agreeing to pay a rate of $37 per day for any additional dogs.

The Pit Chic contract was approved on an emergency basis because the city’s sheltering agreement with the SPCA of Niagara had expired several weeks earlier. Mayor Robert Restaino has said the city is currently engaged in long-term planning to establish a shelter facility in the city.

Gallo, who was also in the council chambers Wednesday night, repeated general allegations that Swagel was not providing proper care for the dogs and said she was not maintaining her facility. She said she turned down an offer from the Falls to take in overflow dogs from the Pit Chic.

“You wanna know why?” Gallo said, “Because the dogs would still be in the hands of the current vendor. We would not be here tonight if (Swagel) or the city of Niagara Falls was on the up and up with operations and caring of the animal shelter.”

In response to concerns raised about the sharing of health and other records with the city, Swagel said the city has real-time access to those records through shared animal management software.

City officials have said that complaints about the shelter made to the State Department of Agriculture and Markets were deemed “unfounded.”

A January inspection of the facility by the state agency noted only two areas of deficiencies, both related to issues with the building. A follow-up inspection found that those issues had been addressed.

There were no concerns raised about the treatment of the dogs.