Cities Need to Step Up

To the Editor:

Over several issues, this paper has published letters and featured articles regarding our county’s animal shelter, Gardenia E. Janssen Animal Shelter (“The Shelter”) located in La Grange. Our former County Judge, Ed Janecka, wrote an excellent letter asking our town and communities, county wide, to “….support the animal shelter.” Judge Janecka went on to state “the county has a fiduciary responsibility to help control animals in the county.” That statement encouraged me to look into which communities have been meeting their obligations.

Let’s first determine what the cost is to intake dogs and cats at The Shelter. When an animal is surrendered to The Shelter, they are prepared for future adoption and the services undertaken including Veterinarian examinations, medications, food, etc., as well as the cost to have the animal either spayed or neutered. This amounts to $462, per animal intake. There is a great deal that happens every day at The Shelter which most people fail to realize.

Now let’s look at 2024 as a guide as to where we stand financially on community support.

Here is a breakdown by community:

Animals Paid by Cost to Community Rescued Community GJAS Contact La Grange 574 $42.03 $241,080 Jack Thompson Schulenburg 173 35.46 16,382 Trey Brenek Flatonia 86 76.10 33,188 Travis Seale Fayetteville 70 68.18 31,499 Mike Stroup Round Top 31 0 14,322 Judith Vincent Carmine 10 0 4,620 Wade Eilers Ellinger 4 0 1,848 Matt Mikulenka Fayette County 731 86.00 274,856 Judge Mueller 2024 Total Cost for Intake of Animals by GJAS: $777,625 2024 Shortfall: 639,794

The Shelter provides a desperately needed service to Fayette County and we are beyond blessed to have the level of care, concern and professionalism offered to us in Fayette County. The Shelter works fervently with Animal Shelters in other States to transfer dogs and cats where they are needed (in areas where animal control laws are much more strictly enforced). By keeping homeless animals off our streets and roads, they are also controlling illness which could endanger people and pets, such as Rabies. As mentioned previously, every animal adopted out of the Shelter is spayed or neutered, therefore, helping to control this area’s rampant increase in homeless animal population.

Teresa Stanley-Brown, The Shelter’s Executive Director, has stated “If the GJAS cannot sustain operations, the responsibility of managing the dogs and cats running at large will fall to the municipalities. This will lead to substantial increased costs and logistical challenges for local governments.”

Unless the municipalities significantly increase the amount given to the Shelter per each intake from their locations, such as $250 per animal, they could lose the privilege of being able to surrender animals there. And then what? I do not believe we want to consider the dim and inhumane situation into which that would evolve.

Food for thought.

Les Mallory Fayetteville

Note: Mallory is a long time supporter of GJAS and the statistics in this letter were gained by information at the Shelter that is available to all County citizens at any time. He currently has three dogs, all of which are shelter rescues.