I am a Baltimore County resident and urge County Executive Johnny Olszewski to increase funding for Baltimore County Animal Service. Given the County population of 855,00 the national standard for funding an open-admission public shelter such as BCAS is $8 per capita or $6.8 million for Baltimore County.  Funding for FY2024 was $4.3 million, $2.5 million less than recommended.  Given the intake of more than 6,000 animals in 2023, Baltimore County Animal Shelter was underfunded and understaffed. I urge the County Executive to increase FY2025 Budget for BCAS to $6.8 MILLION. The BCAS staff put forth an Incredible effort during a challenging year when the intake of animals averaged more than 500 per month. A significant increase in funding and staff will allow BCAS to implement nationally acclaimed best-practices programs shown to decrease intake of surrendered and stray pets, decrease the length of stay of shelter animals, and increase the capacity for existing programs such as TNR and low cost Spay/Neuter.  More than 60% of County residents own and love their pets. Animal Service IS a human service.  It should be funded as such.