Diane Valden is reporting for The Columbia Paper Copake Town Supervisor Jeff Nayer is looking for ways to cut the cost of services for dogs abandoned in the town. At the February 8 town board meeting, Nayer requested the town contract with another, cheaper place in addition to the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA, where stray out-of-town dogs can be taken when found. The cost to shelter four dogs at the humane society, picked up by Copake Animal Control Officer Wes Powell last year, cost the town $650 per dog, for a total of $2,600. Nayer wants to add the Pine Plains Veterinary Hospital as a shelter option, at the maximum cost of $220 per dog. Neither the humane society or the Pine Plains facility euthanize dogs brought there. Because of the distance to Pine Plains from Powell’s home in New Lebanon and because he might have to make multiple trips, Nayer also wants to raise Powell's annual salary by $250. He said even with the increase, combined with the Pine Plains lower dog fee, the town would still save money. Nayer said the number of abandoned dogs is high in Copake and other towns along the Route 22 corridor because many of the animals are brought over from Massachusetts and left behind. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.