Shelter counting on local support

To the editor:
    In the very near future, your town will be holding either a meeting of selectmen or an annual meeting at which budgets will be discussed. Every municipal official is working hard to keep costs down, scrubbing the budget wherever they can, making decisions that are difficult as they affect each of us, whether it’s in the taxes we pay or the services we receive.
    We are asking you for your support when it comes to the Houlton Humane Society animal shelter budget. For the first time in many years we have had to ask for an increase from those towns that contract for Shelter services. At a time when everyone is looking to economize, this request for an increase, and I will admit it is a substantial increase, can be hard to swallow.
    The Humane Society is a rare organization that could basically just run as a private organization on private donations helping private individuals with their placement needs when they have issues with their animals. If there is a death in the family, a fire or other family emergency, a new baby with allergies, moving to a new location that does not allow pets, there are always going to be issues and challenges that the Animal Shelter could help private individuals with. We already offer a pet food pantry, we have a no-interest spay/neuter loan program, and we have a very active Nursing Home program. We could continue all of these programs with your personal and private donations.
    But this animal shelter also provides a service by contract to 26 Southern Aroostook Communities to take in and care for their stray and abandoned animals and this is where the majority of the costs are incurred as many of these animals come in sick, injured, malnourished, frostbitten, and sometimes downright feral. There are no owners or private individuals to step forward and help defray the cost of care so the towns pay a fee to the Shelter on a per-capita basis.
    In 2009, the amount we are asking for is $6.00 per person per town. This is basically one trip to McDonalds. The town fees in 2008 covered only 34 percent of the entire operating budget of the Shelter. And some of the money to pay this fee comes from dog licensing in each town. The better licensing is enforced, the less the taxpayer cost for Shelter services.
    We do not ask the towns to pay for pet food, litter, mortgage, trash removal, insurance, utilities or Vet bills. The town contracts pay only for payroll to keep local people employed — people who spend their money locally, pay their taxes locally.
    We ask for your support when it comes time to vote.     
Catherine Davis, president
Houlton Humane Society