EVANS CITY — The borough police now will have a secure place to house dogs until they can be taken to the Butler County Humane Society.

Council voted Aug. 4 to approve Police Chief Joe McCombs’ recommendation to build a temporary housing facility for stray dogs.

McCombs said officer Scott Longdon will donate the posts and chain link fencing for the roughly 6- by 16-foot pen, which will be built at the old water plant on Route 528.

He said Longdon no longer needs the kennel and is willing to donate it to the borough.

McCombs said it’s a big inconvenience to police when a dog slips its collar and the owner cannot be found because officers must take the animal to the humane society in Connoquenessing Township. He said dog transportation takes time away from other important police duties.

“We need a temporary facility to house these animals,” McCombs said.

The only potential expense to the borough, McCombs said, would be a concrete pad beneath the kennel.

Norm Nelson, director of public works, said a concrete company may donate the small amount of concrete because it is for police purposes.

McCombs said the police force deals with an average of one to two dogs per month that have escaped from their owners’ homes or are strays.

He said if the borough hires a dog officer in the future, the temporary kennel would provide that officer with a facility to house captured dogs while the officer processes the animals.

Council approved the move with the stipulation that the total cost to the borough not exceed $400.

Also at the meeting, Nelson expressed concern that inmates on work release and adults completing community service sentences who are assigned to do work in the borough are uninsured.

Nelson worried about the borough’s liability if a worker were injured.

But McCombs said he was assured by the county adult probation department that the workers are insured.

“They made it crystal clear to us that while (the workers are) doing this, they’re insured,” McCombs said.

Nelson said he would check to make sure the workers are insured.