Pet shelter advocates getting organized
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

L-N File Photo Homeless Stray dogs, like this Wharton County beagle-mix female, may have hope if a group trying to start an animal shelter for county residents has success. Currently only the cities of El Campo and Wharton have animal control, and there's no adoption shelter in the county.

A number of area residents are volunteering to be part of an executive committee investigating the possibility of a county-wide animal shelter following a meeting Monday at the County Courthouse Annex in Wharton.

The meeting was attended by about 20 county residents and hosted by former Extension Agent Marilyn Sebesta and Wharton County Judge John Murrile. After an extended discussion, several of those attending agreed to serve as an initial committee and to do preliminary work on the project.

A number of those attending said there was a definite need in the county that private individuals were trying to fill. Several admitted to having numerous pets they have rescued and are caring for right now. Trish Winkles said she had more than 30 dogs and cats living at her Glen Flora area home, many abandoned in fields or dumped in the river.

"A lot of people around here who want to help are just maxxed out and can't take on any more strays," she said.

She added a lot of the problem is due to neglectful pet owners who refuse to have their animals spayed or neutered. Several others said most of the animals being abandoned are larger breed dogs more difficult to handle. Some dump the resulting puppies or abandon the young adult animals so they can get new "cute" puppies.

It was also pointed out cats are allowed to roam free and the resulting litters of kittens are not cared for adding to the over population of strays.

Among the recommendations offered was one made by Wharton area resident Christine Stransky, who suggested the group start immediately looking into filing the necessary paperwork to form a non-profit, tax-deductible 501- c3 organization.

She added it would allow the group to begin collection donations toward the construction and future maintenance of such a facility. Judge Murrile said he would be contacting local attorneys about the possibility of having the work donated.

Assistant Wharton County District Attorney Ross Kurtz said he has previously worked with the Harris County ASPCA and would contact that group about its relationship with that county's animal control department as well as getting background on legal and organizational efforts. Others from the audience agreed to contact similar sized counties that have animal control programs already in place. That list included Fayette, Guadalupe, Dewitt and Victoria counties.

Among the other recommendations was for the county to work with the existing animal control programs in the cities of El Campo and Wharton to pool resources.

Murrile said was a possibility, but added a more central location for an overall shelter was needed.

While many acknowledged they would prefer a "no kill" facility, it was added that many of the abandoned animals are either too aggressive or are too unhealthy to be offered for adoption.

Jay Hellerich offered a solution that would benefit both the county and his own Smiling Dog Farm Shelter. He said his shelter was actually a sanctuary for animals that could not be placed.

"But we have a lot of animals that are adoptabl,e but had run out of time at shelters and we took them in," he said. "We are currently trying to start an adoption service. But if the county had a facility, we could turn over the adoptable animals to them for placement and concentrate our efforts on those that can't be placed."

The meeting opened with Sebesta outlining previous efforts to establish a animal shelter facility for Wharton County. She said the previous effort, titled SPOT - Stray Pet Outreach Teams - had started five years ago but fell apart after key people moved out of the area.

She said the initial group had started working on a set of by-laws as well as discussing forming a possible fostering program with willing volunteers until a facility could be established. She said the previous group was also looking into an educational program to teach county residents, in particular school age children, responsible pet ownership.

All of the previous work, including some grant funds that were collected, Sebesta added, could be made available to the group as a starting point.

The group voted to hold its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 7. They chose the later starting time to allow those people interested in helping but unable to attend during the day due to jobs to participate.