The four counties that surround Cameron continue to express interest in joining with the city to create a regional animal shelter.

Representatives of numerous towns in Clinton, DeKalb, Daviess and Caldwell counties met as an ad-hoc committee Monday night at Cameron City Hall to consider the proposal. An earlier meeting of county commissioners, Cameron officials and the city’s Safehaven Animal Rescue set the tone for the discussion, according to a report from City Manager David Watson.

The mechanics, costs and size of the shelter are at the heart of the talks, said Sue Manion of the Safehaven animal shelter in Cameron.

“Right now, it’s just in the thought process, to see if there’s a need for it,” she said. “Everybody showed an interest ...This got farther than I thought it would.”

Safehaven has existed since late 1999 and has adopted abandoned dogs and cats from Cameron and adjacent counties that do not have shelters. The city approved an expansion two years later.

But the time has arrived to consider the possibility of a larger shelter to serve a broader area, Ms. Manion said.

“We’re pretty proud of it now, but it’s outdated,” she said of the shelter. “We take a lot of animals from other counties.”

The shared responsibility for a shelter by the smaller towns with low municipal budgets would be one issue to overcome, she said.

A regional animal shelter would fulfill a need, said Kidder Mayor Melissa Gough. The small Caldwell County town doesn’t have a shelter. A local ordinance requires pets to remain on the owner’s property, she added.

“We do have a problem with people dumping strays,” Ms. Gough said.

Numerous pet adoptions have also occurred in Kidder, she said.

Committee members decided to meet again in July for further discussion on the idea, Ms. Manion said.

Ray Scherer can be reached at rscherer@npgco.com.