PARKERSBURG - Wood County commissioners want to see a cost breakdown for required animal control services versus additional humane society services provided, but not required.

"The task force we appointed to look at animal control services has asked for guidance. The code requires a 5-day hold before euthanizing policy and the humane officers' duties are covered. Cats are not addressed in the code. I think we need to get the price for the five days separate from the humane society's costs for additional services. For instance, they don't pick up cats, unless they are injured, but they care for the cats that are brought into the shelter," Commissioner Blair Couch noted.

"The humane society's mission goes beyond what we are required to do by code. But we don't pay for all the services, only part of the components. I think we need to see a cost breakdown for the services that are being provided, then have the committee make recommendations. Part of the reason for the task force was to get differing and fresh viewpoints," Couch said.

The task force is made up of representatives from the county, Wood County Farm Bureau, sheriff's department, prosecutor's office, the cities of Parkersburg, Vienna and Williamstown, West Virginia University Extension Office, general public and humane society. Currently the county contracts with the Humane Society of Parkersburg to provide animal control services. The cost of those services has been steadily increasing.

"When I started on commission the county paid about $95,000 for the services now it's up to around $120,000," Couch noted.

The county is operating under the service terms of last year's contract after agreeing to pay the humane society an additional $21,972 on the existing contract to assure the agency would continue providing afterhour animal control services through June 30, 2010. The county and municipalities were notified, as of July, the society would cease providing those services, and the commissioners met with several private companies about employing them to perform the afterhours services before reaching agreement with the humane society.

Funds for the county's humane society contract are paid partially out of the general county fund and partially from the assessor's office dog tag fund. The additional money for the existing contract came from the county's cash carryover.

The society has also warned the county effective July 1, 2010 it would cease all animal control services for the governmental entities if additional funds were not forthcoming. Between all the governmental entities, officials said nearly $200,000 is paid to the humane society for the services. Humane society officials said earlier the shelter has been dipping more and more into endowments and funding sources set aside for improvements and expansion of community services at the shelter, because it was running in the red.

At the same time as they agreed to pay the additional fee, commissioners organized the task force to look into options for animal control services.

"I thought this effort was to get county costs under control, to find out their (the humane society) exact costs for meeting the statutory requirements and see what services we can afford. I think we're paying for a lot more than what we are required to provide," commission President Rick Modesitt noted.

"There's no doubt the humane society is a valuable asset to this community. We can fund them in a way we can afford and choose if we want to provide funding above and beyond for other services we feel are needed," Couch said.