Flagler County weighs options for animal control, tentatively adds shelter to capital list

Flagler County commissioners received a staff presentation at a June workshop on four options for animal control services and a conceptual municipal animal shelter, and they asked staff to return with detailed cost comparisons and timelines before making a final decision.

Staff presented four scenarios: a one‑year renewal with the Flagler Humane Society, contracting some services to the City of Palm Coast (domestic animals only), Flagler County operating animal control in‑house, and building a new municipal animal shelter. Miss Petito, the county presenter, said staff carried forward information from a joint April workshop with Palm Coast and had gathered fiscal and operational estimates for each alternative.

The draft one‑year renewal with the Flagler Humane Society would run Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026. Staff anticipated a 3 percent consumer‑price index increase to animal control services — roughly a $6,000 increase on that component — and higher market‑driven increases for shelter services, producing an overall estimated increase “of about 16,000 a year,” Petito said. The shelter and spay/neuter components were discussed as separate charges rolled into the provider billing.

Petito said the spay‑and‑neuter rebate program is budgeted at about $106,000 and covers a $25 rebate per animal; staff estimated that equates…