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How do we fund an animal shelter? A group has been working for several months now on the idea of a countywide animal shelter. There seems to be a lot of support for such a shelter to accommodate stray dogs and cats and it does seem like a good way to combat the problem and the potential problem of a rabies outbreak. State law mandates that counties have shelters but it is one of many "unfunded mandates." The proposals we've heard call for a "first class" full-time and fully staffed shelter. We've seen no cost estimates but we can see a building designated exclusively as a shelter with a staff of at least three or four, including a county animal control officer and vehicle, easily costing anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to a half million or more a year. The county doesn't have this kind of money laying around awaiting to be used. Indeed, the county is in a financial crunch right now, just like everyone else, due to increased fuel prices and other rising costs. The county's larger municipalities might be able to contribute some funding but they are facing the same money problems too. The other funding source would be some kind of new tax and these dire times doesn't seem like the right time to be looking at new taxes. We're all for animals and we're all for a county animal shelter but one isn't going to spring into existence and operate on air simply because it is a good thing and everyone realizes the need for it. Perhaps some kind of program utilizing volunteers or part-time help working in conjunction with private practice vets and existing animal control programs in Jackson and Thomasville could be considered as a way to bridge our way to a fulltime facility.
A meeting will be held Thursday, July 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the courthouse to hear from the public.
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