Is building a new Manatee County shelter in the best interest of the dogs? | Letter to the editor
Think very carefully before making a donation to Animal Network for the building of a new Manatee County dog facility.
Our Manatee County Commission approved $8 million to build a new county dog facility. Animal Network must raise $2 million to combine with the county’s $8 million before the facility can be built.
Will this new facility be the best use for taxpayers’ monies, is it the best option for our unwanted dogs? At any given time we have 100-145 dogs in our custody at Manatee County Animal Services. We currently have approximately 114 dogs, of those dogs 17 have been in our care for two years or longer. In the overall population, 16 are 6-13 years of age.
Given our “No Kill” status what is our long term mission for unwanted dogs in our custody? What is our motivation for building a$10 million facility? Is it our goal to keep unwanted dogs caged 24-7 in a warehouse with little or no chance of them ever getting adopted? We must admit that we ARE NOT a dog friendly county. Our demographic is not conducive for dog adoptions, i.e., we have homeowner associations that that impose weight and breed restrictions. We have a large transient/snowbird population, and we have a significant amount of tourists.
Without enough homes for our unwanted dogs will the new facility be a forever warehouse home for dogs in our care? Would it be more prudent for our current MCAS complex to be a short term holding facility? Would it be wiser to hire county employees who excel at networking, marketing, promoting, and transferring our unwanted dogs to shelters in dog friendly states?
Is building a warehouse the best we can do for our unwanted dogs?
Cathy Walter
Bradenton
