Warren’s police chief has started the search for a new Warren Animal Shelter.

The chief ran an ad in the Warren Times-Gazette this week seeking proposals from anyone interested in leasing space for the town’s animal shelter. The current shelter on Wood Street is cramped, old and outmoded, and sits in an area prone to flooding during strong storms and tides.

Police Chief Peter Achilli said he will accept lease proposals through Wednesday, Dec. 11. After that, they will be opened in the town clerk’s office.

The idea of a regional shelter arrangement has been mentioned by some as a possible solution to Warren’s problems. Bristol is building a large new shelter on Minturn Farm Road, and the Town of Barrington has long sought its own shelter. Chief Achilli said he’s open to ideas from neighboring towns.

“The town will look at all proposals submitted for the lease of space, including neighboring town's proposals,” he said.

There are other possibilities too, including working with Dr. Wade Cord, a veterinarian from Barrington, who is relocating his Harbor Animal Hospital from that town to the site of a former car dealership at 288 Market St.

Dr. Cord said months ago that he would be willing to talk to the town about leasing space at his facility to the town; there is plenty of room, he said.

If the town were to decide that it was dissatisfied with its current location and wanted to look at other ways of sheltering its animals,” officials would have to solicit proposals for a new shelter, he said. Once those proposals came in, “the council would have to sit down and the proposals would be looked at.”

In his mind, the key questions here are “First of all, do you want to do it? And second of all, what do you want to do?”

Warren Animal Control Officer Heidi Garrity has been out of work for nearly two months following a van accident sustained on the job. But for years she advocated for years for a new shelter, and a non-profit group, Residents United for Furry Friends (RUFF) has helped raised funds — now approaching about $20,000 — toward that end.