The Humane League of Lancaster County will stop accepting stray dogs found in Lancaster city and 10 other county municipalities at the end of the month.

On Feb. 1, there will be a new shelter to accept strays.

The newly formed Lancaster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals plans to establish a shelter at the city's vehicle maintenance facility on Chesapeake Street, Mayor Rick Gray announced Tuesday.

The Lancaster SPCA shelter will be available to all of the county's 60 municipalities, Gray said. He said three or four municipalities have already contacted the city about participating, although he did not name them.

Under state law, municipalities are required to care for stray dogs found in their jurisdiction. Dogs without identification must be held for at least 48 hours to give owners the opportunity to claim them. Dogs with identification or licenses must be held for as long as two months.

During that period, the animals must be fed, walked twice daily and receive any needed veterinary care.

There are no state requirements governing the care of stray cats.

The Humane League has provided care for stray dogs but in October the nonprofit organization announced that rising costs prevented it from continuing.

The city took as many as 500 dogs to the Humane League each year, Gray told members of City Council at their Tuesday meeting.

"We have a legal obligation to provide for them and we had, by far, the most of any municipality, so we were under the gun," Gray said.

Under the agreement with the newly formed Lancaster SPCA, the city will provide the facility, which will be staffed by the organization. Other municipalities will be charged $300 for each dog brought there. The mayor had little information Tuesday night about the organization of the SPCA.

The facility will house as many as 40 dogs.

Gray emphasized the Chesapeake Street shelter will be temporary until the city can construct another shelter on city-owned land in an isolated area at the edge of the city. That will be done as soon as possible, he said.

The temporary shelter will be on the site of the former Pennsylvania National Guard armory. That facility reverted to city ownership nearly two years ago after the Guard built a new armory near Elizabethtown.

Gray said the animal shelter will be built at the back of the site, as far as possible from nearby residences.

Councilwoman Barbara Wilson asked whether residents of the  southeast city neighborhood had been notified about the shelter plans.

"We just found out about it in the last day or two," Gray responded.

He said plans have come together quickly as the city faces the end-of-the-month deadline.

Wilson recalled that residents objected to city plans to use the armory to replace the city garage. Many also objected to plans to locate recycling drop-off bins at the site. Another location was later found for the recycling center.

Gray told councilmembers that establishing the shelter is expected to cost the city more than the $46,000 budgeted last year to take animals to the Humane League. But, he said, it will likely be less than the $120,000 the city had budgeted for 2013, when officials were still trying to devise a plan.
bharris@lnpnews.com