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Cowlitz County weighs options as Humane Society contract talks push costs higher
Summary
County prosecutors, the sheriff and commissioners discussed a proposed contract from Humane Society of Southwest Washington that would raise the county's 2025 sheltering charge to about $111,000 and seeks control of local intake functions. Officials discussed short-term extensions, county-run shelter options and multi-jurisdiction arrangements.
Cowlitz County officials spent more than an hour reviewing a proposed sheltering contract that Humane Society of Southwest Washington has offered to local governments, a deal that county staff say would raise costs and reduce the county's control over animal intake.
Jason Loreen, deputy prosecutor, told the Board that Humane Society officials have proposed a price to the county of roughly $111,000 for 2025 and were seeking to take all animals that county animal control encounters, to accept walk-in animals from citizens and to close the county's short-term holding facilities near the jail. "They would go to the local humane society as well. They would have an open door policy for citizens to bring in stray animals as well for that…
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