Members of the Will County Public Health and Safety Committee on Friday heard that several east‑side villages lack a local stray‑hold facility, forcing police departments and small veterinary clinics to hold animals for extended periods. Village and police officials urged the committee to help expand housing capacity or county contracts for animal control.

The committee chair, Butler, asked for unanimous consent to take a single public‑comment item on animal control; the committee approved the request by roll call and allowed multiple municipal representatives to speak. Ryan Allison, code enforcement and animal control supervisor for the Village of Crete, told the committee, “we have been having Crete... specifically has had no stray‑hold facility for about 2 years and might be approaching 3 at this point.” He said area veterinarians and Will County Animal Control have told Crete and nearby villages they currently lack staffing or space to accept new contracts.

Deputy Chief Pete Faiman of the Steger Police Department described the operational strain: a local veterinary clinic that had taken animals for the village is now full, with nine dogs currently on site and one of them there “almost 2 years,” he said, adding that clinic staff are bearing the costs of care and can no longer accept animals from other towns. Detective Veil Lazarone of the Monee Police Department said her department, which has no formal animal‑control officer, has converted a juvenile holding room into a temporary animal room and that officers regularly must care for animals between calls.

Crete animal control officer Caitlin Tieri described daily calls for dogs running loose and the stress on first responders: “You know, I get calls daily about dogs running. And the first thing I think to myself is, is it alive? Is it dead? Where am I gonna put it?” Tieri said officers sometimes keep animals for months and that the situation creates a public‑safety concern if stray animals cannot be removed promptly.

Speakers said regional animal shelters and humane societies are not accepting new municipal contracts because they are at capacity. Officials described attempts to secure contracts from Will County Animal Control and South Suburban Humane Society, but both agencies have declined new contracts, according to the presenters.

Committee chair Butler and board member Costa acknowledged the problem as multi‑jurisdictional and said some towns had sought intergovernmental agreements and county funding previously. Butler said limited county funding that was previously distributed covered only nine intergovernmental agreements and that the present requests from additional villages were for partnerships and cost sharing rather than direct handouts.

No formal policy or funding request to the committee was received at the meeting; the committee did not vote on a program or appropriation. Committee members thanked the municipal speakers and emphasized the issue needs further study and coordination between townships, the county and potential shelter partners.

The committee’s public comment period on this single item concluded with Butler saying the committee would consider the issue further and stay in contact with the municipalities that presented.