LONGVIEW/GREGG COUNTY (KYTX) - Another meeting, and more talk about how to solve Longview's stray animal problem.
This city task force, known as 'Operation Save the Animals', has 90 days to come up with a way to build a new shelter by September 2014.
That's when the Humane Society of Northeast Texas says it will stop accepting the city's stray animals.
The city says no other East Texas shelter will take Longview strays. That left it with no option but to sign another year with the Humane Society of Northeast Texas, even with a 23 percent rate hike. One councilman, John Sims, voted no to that request."
"We should never have signed a new contract with the shelter," said Sims. "That money should have gone immediately toward building a new shelter operated by the city."
Sims wants voters to decide if the city should use tax money to build a shelter. But after passing three bond issues since 2004, Sims wonders if taxpayers will vote to increase their burden even more.
"They may not, but we need to find out whether or not they will, and the only way to do that is to put it to a vote," Sims said.
In five years, the City of Longview has doled out $934,756 to the shelter. Next year's payment of $203,125 nearly doubles what the city spent in 2007-08, but when the shelter stops taking-in animals from Longview and other nearby cities, Kilgore City Manager Scott Sellers says they'll have to find other ways to control their stray animal problem.
"I think, at this point, we need to see a collaborative effort of the municipalities and other entities that are impacted by this decision. At this point, even with the cost increase, it's still probably a better alternative than the City of Kilgore starting our own shelter," Sellers said.
In the meantime, Operation Save the Animals continues, as does the putting down of animals at an often overcrowded shelter.
As one humane society board member put it, "That's the dirty part of the business."
The employers at the shelter tell us they've been at capacity the past couple of days. So while the city is trying to build a new animal shelter, the clock ticks for a lot of lives inside the building today.
The "Save the animals" task force has until December to come up with it's recommendations.
In the meantime, if you'd like to get involved with what's happening at the shelter, there is something called 'Free Cat Fridays.' Donors pay adoption and vaccination fees for people adopting cats, who may not be able to afford it.
To learn more, click here.
