DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Piscataquis County commissioners agreed Tuesday to hold a meeting of town officials to discuss the possibility of a locally run animal shelter for stray cats and dogs.

Joseph Guyotte, animal control officer for most of the towns and the Unorganized Territory in Piscataquis County, told the commissioners he hopes some kind of an arrangement can be made to board and shelter strays in the building that now houses Foxcroft Veterinary Service.

The local veterinary service is relocating into a new building, and Guyotte hopes that the clinic area in the vacated building could be used for strays as needed, a move that would reduce costs to the communities he serves.

Guyotte said he collected 37 dogs and 64 cats in the last nine months from 11 towns and the Unorganized Territory, 16 of which were taken to the Bangor Humane Society.

Other animal control officers also see the need for a local shelter, according to Guyotte. He said Parkman’s animal control officer told him that he had taken an animal to a Skowhegan shelter at a cost of $465 every six months.

“Something has to be done,” Guyotte said. Without a local facility, the towns and county ultimately will have to contract with the Bangor Humane Society. While the society has been more than helpful and has “bent over backwards for Piscataquis County,” having to go that distance comes at a great cost to the communities for his time and mileage and the per-capita charge imposed by the society.

The society contracts with communities at an annual per-capita rate of $1.35, which is based on the population of the town sending the animals, according to Suzan Bell, executive director of the humane society, who attended Tuesday’s meeting.

No date was set for the meeting of town officials.

Also Tuesday, the commissioners awarded a two-year contract to Annalee Ziman Rosenblatt to provide human resources and human relations help as well as union negotiation services to the county. Rosenblatt, from southern Maine, will receive $9,100 for the two-year contract.

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