New Philadelphia, Ohio - The fees for several services provided by the Tuscarawas County Dog Pound will increase beginning next year.

On Monday, the Tuscarawas County Commissioners approved a new fee schedule for the county dog pound that includes increases to the fees for adoptions and seizing and delivering dogs to the pound as well as the daily cost for feeding and housing.

Beginning January 1, the cost of seizing a dog will increase from $28 to $35 and the cost per dog for feeding and housing will rise from $6 to $10. Adoption fees will increase by $6, from $34 to $40. 

The changes are being implemented following a recent cost analysis of the pound’s services by Tuscarawas County Auditor Larry Lindberg, which calculated the actual costs associated with each service. He determined that the county spends $38.57 for each dog seized and delivered to the pound, $18.52 per dog per day for food and housing and $92.60 for each adoption.

The commissioner took the report under advisement and decided to impose a lesser increase for each service. 

Commissioner Joe Sciarretti said the increases are needed to help offset some of the cost associated with operating the dog pound but said the commissioners did not want to increase the fees too aggressively.

“It’s not exactly what the cost is but it definitely helps shore up some of the gap in between the actual cost to the department,” he said.

Commissioner Kerry Metzger noted the fees for those particular services hadn’t been increased in more than a decade. 

“They hadn’t been raised since 2007, so it’s just basically to help supplement the cost of the dog pound,” he said. “My hope is that in  future the boards will start to look at this like every three to five years instead of waiting 11 so we can keep up with inflation and those sorts of things.” 

Regarding the adoption fee, Metzger said the new cost includes the $16 license fee. He said the goal was to keep the fee reasonable so it would not deter any prospective adopters.  

“We don’t want to make it too costly for people to adopt the dogs and stuff, but there is care that needs to be done for those dogs at the dog pound,” he said.