WARREN — Members of an advisory committee designed to help the Trumbull County Dog Pound find the financing needed for the building of a new 55-kennel dog pound in Vienna are expected to be named after next week’s commissioner workshop.

The advisory committee is expected to focus on raising the money needed to build the facility, including how to raise private donor dollars to add to funds that still must be committed from the county.

Preliminary estimates of the new pound’s cost are somewhere between $3.3 million and $4 million based on architectural drawings and plans developed in 2024.

Commissioners Tony Bernard, Rick Hernandez and Denny Malloy met Wednesday with nearly a dozen residents interested in a new dog pound being built. The proposed pound is expected to be built on property donated to the county by the Animal Welfare League in 2023.

Bernard, elected as a commissioner in 2024, was not aware that the property next to the AWL building previously had been designated as the site for the new dog pound. With a site in mind for the pound, commissioners are trying to establish how much income can be raised through large and small dollar donations from the community as well as money coming from the county government.

Both Hernandez and Malloy noted they would be willing for the county to sell bonds or take out loans to help pay for the project.

Malloy said Lake County is looking at providing $200 million to build a safety service facility.

“We can provide $10 million to pay for the relocation of the county’s 911 center, renovate a new coroner’s office and build a new dog pound,” Malloy said. “We have counties around us providing $60 million and $200 million and not blinking an eye. I am not afraid of taking on a little bit of debt.”

However, Bernard argued the county should use every means at its disposal to obtain the funds without taking on additional debt. He said the county should ask its grant writing consultant firm, KO Consulting LLC, to find available grants.

Ty Beatty, a representative of KO Consulting, said the agency is not aware of any governmental grants available that could help pay for a portion of the dog pound. Bernard said every state and federal dollar the county can get will help get the job done.

“This is probably a years-long process, while we seek funding opportunities,” Beatty said. “We don’t have a grant to address a dog pound. We would look at entities that fund tech-vet programs.”

Malloy said the architectural drawings for the dog pound show an intake area, a place where people can visit with the dogs, an area for play, veterinary services and kennels.

“How do we pay for it,” Malloy said. “We’ve looked at what other counties have done and many have financed it or have done bonds. There are very few counties that had $3 million to $5 million just sitting there burning a hole in their pockets.”

Malloy suggested donors have been generous in other communities.

“The Animal Welfare League had a lot of donors that provided money to them,” he said. “When we had the bird sanctuary for wild birds in Howland, donors provided money. There are angel donors out there that care about dogs that are willing to partner up with government entities or with non-profits.”

Malloy is hoping people will financially step up once they see the county providing funds for a new dog pound.

“I would like to see someone from the private sector step forward to donate,” he said. “There are people out there that could help out, but they have not been asked. The naming rights to the building, the naming rights to the room are on the table. Each office in the building can be named after someone to honor their love of animals and love of dogs.”

Trumbull County Dog Warden Michelle Goss said the current facility only has 14 kennels.

“It does not matter whether we have 55 kennels or 1,000 kennels, we’re going to fill them,” she said. “It is more about promoting the dogs and working with rescue facilities.”

Hernandez said the property that has been donated is the best location for the new pound.

“It makes sense with AWL being there with the services they have there, even prescription-wise, surgery-wise and a lot of different things they have there,” Hernandez said.

Jerry Bayus, who said he is interested in serving on the new committee, said the county dog pound is not a rescue center that should hold dogs for months at a time.

Goss said the dog pound should only be holding dogs for no more than three days before moving them to rescue facilities, like Healthy Hearts and Paws in Warren.

Amanda Herbert, a community volunteer at the dog pound, said realistically the pound has been keeping dogs for longer periods of time, even months at a time.

“It has become the norm,” she said. “It is not the outlier anymore.”

Bayus said that people are giving up their pets because they cannot afford to take care of them. He noted it can cost between $100 to $200 for food for one dog.

“People need to understand that it is not cheap to own a pet,” Bayus said. “It is contributing to the decrease in adopters.”