According to the Town Budget, Orange is paying Milford $75,000 a year for use of their animal control shelter and officers. Woodbridge thinks they can do better.
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“We could definitely be competitive with that price,” said Woodbridge Administrative Officer and Director of Finance Anthony Genovese.
Last year, Milford answered 96 incidents relating to animals in Orange. At $75,000 for the contract that comes to $781.25 per call paid by Orange’s taxpayers.
Orange used to contract with Woodbridge but switched to Milford years ago.
Genovese said Woodbridge contracts with a few area towns and has an opening if Orange officials wanted to consider returning.
The Milford shelter is not properly equipped for taking in cats. Staff there said they have accepted boxes of kittens and adopted them out, but they really can’t accommodate grown felines.
The Woodbridge shelter has a cat room and regularly accepts cats.
Milford also does not assist with calls for wildlife issues, and instead refers callers to the police. Woodbridge will assist on some calls but largely leaves wildlife issues up to local police as well.
Neither shelter kills animals without heavy consideration. All attempts are made to adopt out and in general an animal is only put down if there are overriding issues that would make them otherwise unadoptable or they are severely sick or injured. A staff member at the Milford shelter said they’ve had dogs there as long as 18 months looking for homes.
While Woodbridge would be willing to take Orange back and could possubly do so at a lower cost to the town, it is unclear what the process and time line would be. Genovese said it is possible Orange would need to give at least 6 months notice.