Township, county contract for animal services

By Kevin Elliott

Bloomfield Township will continue to offer animal shelter services, despite approving a contract on Wednesday, September 28 with Oakland County for animal welfare services.

“They provide supplemental services if we need it, which is a very rare occurrence,” said Bloomfield Township Chief of Police James Gallagher. “If a resident takes an animal there and we don’t get to it quickly, or the resident prefers the county service, we are billed for it. It’s very rare we get a bill from them. There has probably been a couple of years since we were charged for a resident using their service over ours.”

The Bloomfield Township Animal Shelter is staffed Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Requests for service made when services aren’t available can be supplemented by Oakland County’s Animal Welfare service. The county’s animal shelter provides boarding of stray animals, euthanasia and disposal for owner relinquished animals, as well as rabies specimen preparation and transport.

The cost of service for disposal and care of animals increased slightly at the county level from 2020, with the county paying nearly $500,000 in additional costs for janitorial services at the shelter due to Covid restrictions, said Robert Gatt, Oakland County Animal Shelter Division manager.

Bloomfield Township trustees unanimously approved the contract.

“It’s also good to have a backup if we are short staffed,” said supervisor Dani Walsh. “It’s nice to know that when it happens, someone is going to be there to help.”