Animal control fees could rise next year
Upper Freehold may have to pass along increases to its member towns
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD — The Board of Health is exploring its options if a local animal shelter raises its rates for incoming animals.

Upper Freehold, which has interlocal agreements with nine other municipalities to handle their animal control needs, may be adding Hightstown to its list next year.

At present, Upper Freehold is performing animal control duties for Plumsted, North Hanover, Roosevelt, Millstone, Allentown, Englishtown, Washington Township, Wrightstown and Cookstown.

Under the agreement, animal control will only pick up stray dogs. However, cats will be picked up if they are sick or injured.

According to Animal Control Officer Mary Klink, most stray dogs are taken to the Associated Humane Societies facility in Lacey Township, adjacent to the Popcorn Park Zoo. Animals picked up in North Hanover go to the Burlington County Animal Shelter, and Plumsted animals are taken to the Ocean County Animal Shelter in Jackson.

Associated Humane Societies charges Upper Freehold $12 a day for a dog’s impoundment and state law requires that all strays be held at least seven days before they become available for adoption. Unless the animal is claimed by its owner before the seven-day period is up, each dog will cost the township $84.

If the animals are not adopted right away, the pound picks up the bill.

Roseann Trezza, executive director of the Associated Humane Societies, based in Newark, said fees for Upper Freehold would increase only minimally, if at all, next year.

Dr. S. Perrine Dey, chairman of the Upper Freehold Board of Health, said at a Nov. 9 meeting that contingency plans have been made if Popcorn Park Zoo significantly raises its rates.

Next year Upper Freehold will increase the $10,000 annual fee it charges to Millstone and Plumsted, which get unlimited calls, by 7 percent (a $700 increase).

Towns with fewer calls are billed differently. Roosevelt, for example, pays $500 per year for five animal control calls, and each additional call is billed at $25. These towns will see a 5 percent increase.

In October, Klink answered 42 animal control calls in Plumsted and 28 in Millstone, along with 55 in Upper Freehold. Other towns had seven or fewer calls, and there were none in Roosevelt, North Hanover or Wrights-town.

“They have been getting an excellent deal,” Dey said. “Our program is finally in good shape.”

A truck replacement fund has been established so the current animal control vehicle can be replaced in five years.

Board member Dr. Kathy Stryeski, a veterinarian who operates the Cream Ridge Pet Care Center, asked Klink what happens to the remains of an animal that has been hit by a car.

By state law, Klink said, the veterinarian or community shelter she takes it to must cremate it. She said she seldom finds identification on animals that are killed by cars; if she does, the owner will usually want the body.

Stryeski suggested the township consider using the services of the Abbey Glen Memorial Park, Lafayette, which she uses at her clinic. She said they have a special program for municipalities in which they will supply a 25-foot cubic freezer for carcasses for $25 a month.

They then charge 50 cents per pound to pick up and cremate the animals, and will usually do a pickup when the total weight of the carcasses reach 200 pounds.

Margaret Jahn, the Freehold area health officer, agreed this was a significant issue, and said she knew of towns where the price of such services had skyrocketed.

“It’s a tremendous burden,” Jahn said.

She said she thought carcass disposal also could be a good shared service for other communities.