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Chairman William Shaffer said township officials could not justify the cost of the proposed contract, considering the low number of stray dogs reported in the township.
But Carol Yake of New Providence complained that people have dumped animals on her property. And without a township agreement with the Humane League, she has no way to get rid of the animals, she said.
Yake said she has had to resort to sending one dog to a facility in Cecil County, Md.
"It's a problem for us," Yake said. "I'm devastated I can't do anything about it. I can't take them to the Humane League or ORCA."
Township secretary Vicki Eldridge said she asks people to call the state dog warden for stray dogs.
"I don't know who to call for stray cats," she said.
Eldridge said the Humane League has a neutering program for feral cats, but cats have to be returned to the area where they were found once they are neutered.
Yake said the Humane League refused to take two kittens she found.
Another resident alleged she was threatened with hefty fines for keeping a stray dog more than 24 hours.
"If you don't have a place to take a stray and you house that animal for any period longer than 24 hours, when you call the animal warden to come get the dog, it is now considered to be your animal," said the woman. "That's just a bunch of hogwash."
The woman said she was threatened with fines totaling several hundred dollars by the dog warden because two stray dogs she had in her possession longer than 24 hours were considered hers and were not properly tagged.
"That is why I don't have that problem paying that one extra dollar a year," she said.
Shaffer said the township dealt with three stray dogs in 2008 and eight in 2007. He said the proposed 2010 contract with the Humane League would have cost about $4,000.
Shaffer said that in 2011, the Humane League contract would be based on a per capita fee of $1 per resident, which would cost the township nearly $7,000.
Residents are being asked to respond to an online poll about paying additional taxes to fund a contract with the Humane League for its services. The poll can be found at the township's Web site, www.co.lancaster.pa.us/providencetwp.
