It's not "all" about the money at the SPCA, as the headline writer on today's print column writes, but it is partly, because it has to be. You can't feed and care of thousands of animals a year without it.

Anyway, it looks like the SPCA and the county will be able to work out a deal to extend the SPCA's July 1 deadline for accepting strays from local municipalities.

For years the SPCA accepted less money from local governments than it cost to take and care for strays. When a new SPCA management group announced it was raising its prices to reflect the true costs of care, the munis howled like scalded dogs. This is a private org. that did business with government. When it decided to adopt a "no-kill" policy, its days of being in the animal control business had to be numbered.

Now that the county is building its own facility, there will be more space to house and keep strays. That means more dogs should be saved from the streets and either found by their owners, adopted out or humanely put down. All this will come at a cost.

For people who care deeply about animals and their welfare the increased space and money spent is a good thing. For people who don't, it's just another reason for local governments to raise taxes.

Run right, the new kennel could be a place where, like the SPCA, hundreds of animals are adopted every year. Adoption fees should help defray the costs of running the place. And so should fines to owners who allow their animals to become lost in the first place.

In all the deal is a good one for animal welfare, a little less so for taxpayers.