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Anyone with even a passing interest in the welfare of domesticated animals understands that Jackson County is in dire need of a new animal shelter.

The current facility off South Pacific Highway between Phoenix and Talent is antiquated, in worsening disrepair, and is severely overcrowded.

Everyone agrees on this. It’s time to act. It’s past time, actually.

That need was driven home this week when county officials announced that the shelter — which previously had stopped accepting all cats but those confiscated as evidence by law enforcement — not only has stopped accepting dogs as well, but that because of the overcrowding “euthanasia rates will increase.”

Adoption fees are being waived through April 14. The county is encouraging community members who have the resources to provide for a shelter pet to rally to add a dog to their families. Regional shelters and volunteer organizations are being contacted to see if they have space available.

The county reached an apex of over 120 at the shelter, which had an an original capacity of 14 kennels, expanding over time to be able to house 86 animals.

The current situation has gone beyond being called “unacceptable.” It is a crisis, with the potential for getting worse.

Which is where the need for a new shelter has risen to the top tier of priorities for county government.

Beginning this month, cities will be asked to approve resolutions that would put a measure for creating a special service district before voters in November.

The cost to the average household would be $33.70 a year — enough to fund the $15 million expected to construct on county-owned property off East Vilas Road a facility twice the size of the current shelter, plus ongoing operating costs.

“People have been on us for a long time to build a new facility,” County Administrator Danny Jordan said at a recent Board of Commissioners meeting. “So (the service district) would allow them to support building a new facility.”

Not everyone, however, is on board with how the county is proceeding on the issue.

Denise Krause, a shelter volunteer and a Democratic candidate in the race to replace retiring Commissioner Dave Dotterrer, said in a letter published by the Rogue Valley Times that the economics need to be examined in a transparent and collaborative process.

“City councils can hold off. Don’t get pushed into a bad decision,” Krause wrote. “There are other options to provide a new animal shelter without raising taxes.”

Krause added that construction — which she wrote that Jordan had said previously was something the county can afford — could begin while the best long-term financial options for funding and operations are explored.

At the commissioners meeting, Jordan told the board that if the service district concept were abandoned, the county could seek bonds and/or an operating levy, which might mean scaling down the size of the project.

“Everyone knows we need a new shelter,” Jordan said. “They may not agree 100% with how we propose to run it or operate it. … If voters don’t support it, we’re going to narrow the scope of service — not because we want to, but because we’d have to.”

We’ve reached the tipping point. The status quo cannot hold, nor should it, not when euthanasia is seen as an unfortunate — yet inevitable — option.