Animal shelter fulfills important role

To the editor:
    This is in response to the letter two weeks ago by Cathy Davis, president of the Houlton Humane Society regarding the annual budget request to the 26 towns which contract with the animal shelter, in which she stated the shelter board sought a ‘substantial’ increase. In ‘doing the math’, I found this not to be anywhere near ‘substantial’ when broken down per capita.
    Like everyone else in America, the Houlton animal shelter is a victim of the economic crunch. But, unlike every other business and organization that has raised prices, fees etc. over the years, the residents of the 26 southern Aroostook towns with whom they contract have only paid $4 a year per capita for the last several years. Less than the price of one lunch.
    For that $4, if your animal got loose and was picked up by animal control, or found by a stranger and brought to the shelter, the animal was cared for until you could come take it home. And anyone knows, there is no price tag on finding your lost pet.
    For that $4, if you got a pet somewhere else that was not spayed/neutered, you could apply for a no-interest spay/neuter loan.
    For that $4, if your heart was breaking watching a pregnant stray momma cat or dog looking for a safe place to have her litter, animal control would bring that desperate animal to the shelter for warmth, medical attention, and care until adoptive/foster homes could be found.
    For that $4, when you needed a non-judgmental companion to love you unconditionally, there has been a healthy lot to choose from.
    $4 a year … 365 days … just over one penny a day.
    Now the shelter is asking for a $2 increase per capita to equal $6 per resident … which in total equals just over 1.5 cents a day.
    A half-cent a day increase is what they’re asking and are meeting with resistance from several towns that have stated their residents will not want to pay this. Is that true, residents? Did your selectmen/council even confer with you about this?
    Are you aware the state of Maine mandates every town must either have its own animal shelter or contract with one? Do you know what will happen if your town does not contract with the Houlton Humane Society? That means, if Fluffy or Fido gets loose, goes visiting the neighbors, and gets picked up by animal control, who knows where your pet will end up, but it will not be the Houlton Animal Shelter on Callaghan Rd.!
    If a town does not contract with them, HHS is under no obligation (nor should they be) to accept a pet brought in from that town. And yes, that would break the hearts of shelter personnel and volunteers because animals are their passion, but it would not be fair to the towns that pay the contract to take in animals from towns which do not.
    As of right now, there are no other shelters in a 50-mile radius. The closest are Presque Isle, Calais and Lincoln. However, the travel costs to and from these towns would become time and cost prohibitive by the animal control agents and defeat the purpose of not contracting with HHS in the first place!
    What you also may not be aware of is the State allows towns to keep a portion of pet licensing fees which should be used strictly for animal welfare issues. So, the better the town enforces its licensing, the more money it will have to offset this increase through its budgeting.
    Remember, Houlton Humane Society Animal Shelter is a no-kill facility. When pets come in as strays, they are never destroyed for lack of space or lack of funds. Pets are held a mandatory number of days before they become available for adoption. And if they come in injured, they get veterinary. The small staff and volunteers of the Houlton animal shelter utilize the newspaper, radio, television, the Web, and word of mouth throughout towns to get these animals back home, or into new loving homes. They are here for us and our pets. Please be there for them.
    Please contact your selectmen/council and let them know they shouldn’t make decisions for you without your consent. Ask them if they intend to build their own shelter in your town and if the cost to you will be less than $6. a year. Realistically, we already know the answer … impossible.
    Please let your selectmen/council know you support a half-cent a day increase to the Houlton Humane Society.
Darlene Kenney
Linneus