Cowlitz County weighs options as Humane Society contract talks continue; commissioners move to form dangerous-animal review board

Cowlitz County commissioners spent the bulk of a workshop session reviewing negotiations with the Humane Society of Southwest Washington over animal-control and sheltering services and agreed to move forward with creating a local dangerous-animal review board.

The discussion opened with Jason Loreen, with the county prosecutor’s office, summarizing ongoing negotiations and warnings from sheriff’s staff that the Humane Society had proposed large price increases. Loreen said the Humane Society’s initial ask had been about $170,000 for county services; after bargaining with Longview and Kelso it had offered $111,000 for the coming year, with the cities separately negotiating per-capita rates. He said the society had also signaled it wants the county to stop using the temporary holding facility at the jail as part of negotiations.

The issue matters to the board because the Humane Society’s proposals would significantly increase county sheltering costs, and because the society’s stated condition that the county discontinue use of the jail-based temporary holding facility would remove the county’s only existing local option…