Municipal budgets are being voted on this time of year, and once again officials are faced with rising costs of animal control contracts.
The Animal Rescue League of Berks County is keeping costs steady in 2025 for five of the six municipalities it serves.
“No current contracted municipality will see an increase on fees for 2025 with the exception of Reading,” said Jose Joel Delgado-Rivera, the ARL’s chief communications officer. “Reading’s City Council was already notified of a 5% increase for 2025, and we are working with them on changes to their contract that align with that increase.
“New requests for animal control contracts will be on a case by case basis.”
In 2023, municipalities contracted with the ARL were told rates would be $2.50 per capita in 2024 and rise to $7 per capita in 2025 and that new municipalities seeking contracts in 2024 were offered the $7 rate. Those plans were changed.
“It is important to point out that the stop in price increases was only possible to the restructuring that Ashley (Mikulsky, ARL CEO) announced last year to improve our operational efficiency and partnerships to lower the time that animals remain under our care,” Delgado-Rivera said.
For 2024, the ARL has contracts with Bern, Jefferson and Upper Bern townships along with New Morgan, Wyomissing and Reading.
Safety Net Sanctuary, which provides animal control for dogs to 33 Berks municipalities, announced it is moving to a $1.50 per capita rate in 2025. Populations were determined by 2020 census figures.
Cumru Township Police Chief Madison Winchester said the $1.50 per capita fee would cost the township $23,428 annually, which he believes is unreasonable considering the minuscule amount of services the police department requires for a stray.
In 2024, Cumru’s flat rate contract with Safety Net was $10,000.
Spring Township supervisors meeting minutes from Sept. 9 indicated the $1.50 per capita fee would mean a charge of about $43,000 annually for its municipal contract, instead of the annual contribution method that was used previously. The board tabled the request, and no action was taken during its Oct. 15 meeting.
“I understand that the cost of housing and taking care of animals for these organizations is rising and expensive,” Winchester said, “but when I’m looking at the police department averaging between six and 14 dogs a year that need to be temporarily housed, that’s just an incredible amount of money in my opinion.”
Even rarer is the occasion when Cumru needs Sanctuary Safety Net to pick up a dog, he said. Department personnel typically drop off a stray or abandoned dog at the shelter.
Municipalities are in a bind because their police are obligated by state law to take custody of abandoned or stray dogs when called, Winchester said.
“We don’t have an option,” he said. “If we’re called, it’s our duty as police officers to take custody of that dog.”
But Cumru only requires the services of a shelter if it can’t locate an owner within a few hours. Through social media and other means, police usually are able to reunite dogs with their owners before dropping them off at a shelter, Winchester said.
“We have the ability to hold onto dogs for 24 hours at a time to reunite them with their owners,” he added.
Lisa M. Poper, Sanctuary Safety Net founder and president, said municipal officials often are unaware of the number of strays coming from their communities because most people who find a dog never call police, they simply take it to the Animal Rescue League in Cumru Township or Humane Pennsylvania’s Freedom Center for Animal Life-Saving in Reading. The ARL or Humane Pennsylvania contacts Poper if the animal was found in one of the 33 municipalities her organization serves.
Poper did not have intake number breakdowns by municipality available but noted Safety Net Sanctuary is caring for 60 dogs whose owners have not been found. She houses some of them at her 12-acre farm in Ruscombmanor Township and contracts with two boarding kennels for the rest, she said.
“Off the top of my head, I’m going to say 2% of the dogs that came in were returned to owners,” Poper said.
And the majority of dogs coming in are not spayed or neutered, she said.
“I feel a $1.50 per capita is justifiable and reasonable,” Poper said. “Anybody right now in animal welfare knows what’s happening and sees what’s coming. It’s not getting any better and it’s not going to get better.
“People are dumping dogs. These dogs aren’t just straying away from people. People are dumping dogs; they can’t afford to take care of them. The shelters are full.”
Those rising costs are affecting Safety Net’s ability to meet its obligations, Poper added.
“I can say that I am aware of the increase in the costs for Safety Net,” Central Berks Regional Police Chief Ray Serafin said. “I spoke with a veterinarian in Oley who indicated to me that the price is extremely fair as there have been more restrictions and regulations applied to facilities like these by the state, which caused costs to be increased. So when you make a comparison, Safety Net is a good deal.”
The four municipalities covered by Central Berks police — Lower Alsace and Oley townships and Mount Penn and St. Lawrence — contract with Safety Net:.
In Fleetwood, the cost of the Safety Net contract doubled from $3,000 to $6,000, according to Chris Young, borough manager.
“We had a concern because this came unannounced,” he said, noting it was a bit of shock just receiving a new contract that doubled in price without an explanation.
Young said he asked Poper for an explanation and received a letter from her attorney explaining that veterinary cost increases were the driving force behind the increased price.
“We are paying it, we are going ahead with it, but it did catch us a little off guard,” Young said.
Source: Berkshire mont
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