NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) - Charleston County and Pet Helpers met to discuss current protocols after announcing their official partnership on Wednesday. Since the contract between the county and Charleston Animal Society expired in November, Pet Helpers has stepped in to assist. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office brings in animals they find in unincorporated areas to the organization, and now it is an official partnership. "Basically what we've been doing. We've been assisting for a good, long while quietly anyway but we have a good individual contact within the shelter 24/7. We'll respond to an animal call-out, maybe in the middle of the night, and they've got access," Carol Linville, president and founder of Pet Helpers, said. "We will work with them ongoing as they work through how to resolve all the animal intakes in the county going forward."  Charleston County is prepared to provide funds for Pet Helpers to make room for more animals, as the partnership has already increased the amount of animal intakes. "We're looking at expanding our kennels, and we've been looking to do that anyway in the space restrictions that we have. County assistance will help us, but they've helped us in the past with budgeting," Linville said. "So it's just a matter of working out a few semantics, but its nothing hard - no big contract or anything like that." Pet Helpers said they continue to have a good relationship with the county and are optimistic about what their future looks like. "It's very simple, we just had a really good conversation with the county. We're going to continue to assist the county with animal intakes as long as they need us. It's really that simple. We just worked out the details of getting the animals in and communication between staff and animal control. We're there for the animals of Charleston County and not much has changed," said Linville. While the county has this agreement with Pet Helpers, negotiations are still ongoing with the Charleston Animal Society. Charleston County officials said they are expected to meet with Pet Helpers often this month, as the partnership is still new.