On Shelter Support

To the Editor:

As a native Texan who has worked in Fayette County for years, and now have the privilege of living in La Grange, I’d like to see us stay the healthy community it has always been. Part of that is to make sure our nonprofit community stays healthy and continues to provide much needed services. For example the Gardenia Janssen Animal Shelter. A staple in our community. I’ve had the honor of working with the dedicated staff as a volunteer fundraiser for several years.

Therefore, I have firsthand knowledge of how hard the staff works and the daily struggles they face from not only the constant need for funding, but the overwhelming intake of dogs and cats in need. Now is the time that we as a community speak out and ask those who have the authority to increase their funding to do so. While some may envision this as just a dog and cat issue, it is a public Safety issue that we all benefit from. Animals are constantly being dumped on our roads. Do we want to live in a place where animals run on our streets and continue to have more because they have nowhere to go? Nowhere to be spayed or neutered? Did you know the shelter works tirelessly to find homes for these animals, not just locally, but works with rescue and transport partners to find homes in other states? The unwanted and discarded dogs and cats far exceeds our adoption market.

Other shelters like Bastrop shelter receives 2.0M and Brenham shelter 1.5M annually. It’s time to step up and increase funding for our shelter if we don’t want to have issues like Houston and other cities. Let’s keep Fayette County a healthy and compassionate one.

I want to thank the community for their financial support and the hours the volunteers dedicate to the shelter. But it is only with local government support that these services can continue.

Beverly Seffel La Grange