Group wants to create animal shelter
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

L-N File Photo Another Chance Dogs like this stray found after Hurricane Rita may have another chance to find good homes if a new group puts together a countywide animal shelter.

An organizational meeting to determine the interest in developing a animal shelter and adoption program in Wharton County is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Commissioners Courtroom at the Wharton County Annex in Wharton.

"We tried to do something four or five years ago and had some meetings but the chairperson moved away and it just kind of faded," Marilyn Sebesta said. Sebesta and County Judge John Murrile are co-hosting the meeting.

"We are looking for ways to make adoption of stray animals a possibility for both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county," Sebesta said.

"The cities of Wharton and El Campo have animal control programs, but there is nothing in the county. It's a recognized problem so I talked to Judge Murrile about holding a meeting to determine the interest in doing something. We want to address this issue systematically."

Because of the lapse in time, Sebesta said it would be possible to try and pick up where the previous committee left off or to start from scratch.

She added the goal for the meeting is to not only determine if there is interest, but the level of support that could be expected from area residents.

"If we do decided to do something, we would need funding to build and then staff a facility," she said. "We'd also be looking for people who would be willing to be 'foster parents' to some of these animals while they were waiting for adoption as well as volunteers to help with the care of the animals if a facility is built."

In El Campo, Animal Control Officer Steve Peoples said the city does have a shelter but limited space and resources. He said the facility does euthanize strays, but only after making efforts to see them returned to their owners or adopted out.

"We hold strays for 72 hours (three days) before we have to euthanize," he said. "But that depends on the space available. And if someone shows up wanting to adopt a particular animal, we give the owners those 72 hours to collect them and then contact the interested person. If we have one that we think might be readily adoptable, we'll hold it a little longer. We also have some local residents involved in animal rescue that will take some of them to bigger facilities, like in Houston, to try and get them adopted."

In Wharton, Patrol Sgt. Jason Barker said the city has a similar program of holding strays as long as possible.

"We try to adopt out as many as possible," he said. "We do have a three-day mandatory hold. We've had several we've held for an extended time. (Since moving into their larger facility) we've maybe had to euthanize two animals in the past three months."

Barker said that the police department has continued to work on adopting out the animals as much as possible despite currently being understaffed.

"The animal control officer (Rubien Jones) had been off for the past several months," he said. "But all of the guys are pitching in and helping do things like feed and clean the kennels on a daily basis."