Hilda Enoch figures the city spends a lot more to shelter homeless pets than it does homeless people.

After all, the city is paying $235,000 this year to the Humane Society to house (and in some cases, euthanize) lost cats and dogs waiting to be found or adopted. The Salvation Army, meanwhile, is getting just under $75,000 through the city for its homeless shelter.

Amy Tramill, public relations coordinator for the Lawrence Humane Society, takes a break from feeding animals to enjoy a moment with a dog up for adoption.

Enoch, a longtime advocate for the homeless in Lawrence, doesn’t like it one bit. Thursday’s death of Aaron G. Etsitty, a homeless man, only added to her unhappiness.

“We have no place, day after day, for people who have really serious problems and who need support instead of isolation,” she said.

But officials say the true share of city support for the homeless is actually higher than it appears at first glance.

“It’s not that simple a question,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said. “There’s a lot of services related to homelessness that the city helps provide.”

Other organizations include First Step House, a substance abuse halfway house for women and families, which receives a number of clients escaping homelessness. That organization is getting $24,000 from federal Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Shelter Grant funds allotted to the city.

Other examples:

Community Drop In Center receives $28,500 from the same grants to provide a morning gathering place where homeless people can receive counseling and look for job opportunities.

Health Care Access, which helps the poor and homeless with medical care, has a $12,000 city allotment.

DCCCA, a Lawrence drug and alcohol counseling center, is getting $90,668 in state alcohol funds given to the city.

“Not all the homeless have those kinds of problems,” Wildgen said. “But they’re a large part of that clientele.”

He said that if the city didn’t help fund the Humane Society, which receives other grants, the city would have to do all the work of collecting and housing stray animals.

Depending on which agencies you decide to include, the city’s contribution to agencies that help the homeless in various forms runs to $300,000 or more this fiscal year.

“If you look at all the services we provide,” Mayor Sue Hack said, “we are a very caring community.”

Enoch, however, thinks the city must do more.

“There’s a need,” she said. “I think the city needs to make it possible for us to have a round-the-clock shelter.”