Canton asks cities for animal control agreement
Animal control has been a problem discussed at council meetings of every city in Van Zandt County. Police departments are answering numerous animal control calls a month, which for small towns with limited resources are difficult.
Canton is the only city within the county that has an animal shelter therefore when Wills Point, Van, Edgewood and Grand Saline capture an animal, it must be taken to the Canton shelter. The shelter then must hold the animal for the state-mandated time period before euthanizing the animal.
Cities currently pay the shelter $30 for accepting the animal then another $20 if the animal must be euthanized.
Canton City Manager Lonnie Cluck met with representatives from Wills Point, Van, Edgewood and Grand Saline recently.
Running the animal shelter costs Canton $210,000 a year to operate, Cluck said.
The shelter euthanized 550 animals in 2015. Animals are euthanized when homes or rescue groups cannot be found for them.
Cluck told the other municipalities that their cities would need to enter into an Inter-local agreement with Canton for animal control services.
Under this agreement, each city would pay a yearly fee of $5,000 in addition to the per animal surrender and euthanasia charges.
After October 2016, the Canton shelter will not receive animals from any city not in the Inter-local agreement, Cluck said.
Grand Saline and Van representatives said they had done research to determine if they could construct holding pens for animals but found that state regulations don’t differentiate between a shelter and holding pens. The facility would have to be climate controlled with strict regulations regarding the holding areas.
The cost of building a shelter or holding pens is prohibitive, Grand Saline officials said.
The Grand Saline council voted July 12 to enter into the inter-local agreement with Canton for animal control services.
The other cities are expected to discuss the issue in upcoming council meetings.
Grand Saline Mayor Don Yarbrough said he feels strongly that the county should also be contributing financially to the cost of animal control and be part of the agreement since 50 percent of the county’s population does not live within an incorporated city.
Cluck agreed that the majority of the animals received at the shelter are from the county and not from a city entity.
Grand Saline City Manager Rex White said the Inter-local representatives would be meeting with County Judge Don Kirkpatrick then the county commissioners to petition them to join the agreement.
Yarbrough suggested representatives and citizens from each city attend the proposed commissioners meeting to show solidarity and express their feelings that the county needs to assist financially with the cost of the shelter.
