Animal Services Improvements Noted

January 07, 2005

Galveston Daily News 01/13/05
Citizen Response Daily News 01/22/05

To the Editor:

As Manager of Animal Services for the Galveston County Health District I would like to take this opportunity to inform citizens about some of the actions taken over the past year to improve services.

In an effort to make these improvements the Health District hosted an “Animal Summit” in March of 2004, where we listened to concerns and suggestions from citizens and drafted an improvement plan. Several of those ideas have already been completed which include:

• Working with local rescue groups to increase the number of animals adopted out of our shelter in Texas City
• Appropriate training for all staff in an effort to provide quality service to animals and citizens
• Establishing a volunteer organization which can assist the staff in all areas.

Additionally we have also attended two Town Hall meetings held in San Leon where citizens outlined areas of concern as well as appreciation for the improvements we have already made. We have also worked closely with restaurant owners in unincorporated areas of the county to control feral cat populations and picking up stray dogs that damage or destroy property.

I understand that stray animals can be a nuisance. One of the greatest contributing factors to the increase in the number of stray animals continues to be irresponsible pet owners. We are committed to educating citizens about responsible pet ownership by advising owners about our local leash laws and the regulation on the number of pets one may own. These educational efforts are in addition to our regular duties of picking up stray dogs, investigating bite cases, allegations of animal cruelty, lack of proper shelter, and responding to injured animals. Our Animal Control Officers also remove dead animals from streets in those cities that contract for such a service.

Like many District programs we are continually searching for additional funding sources that would allow us to improve the services we provide. Currently we operate with four Animal Control Officers to service a vast area from High Island to Kemah. In addition we serve the Bacliff/San Leon area and beginning October 1, 2004 we assigned an officer to patrol that area daily.

We are here to serve the public and encourage citizens to call us whenever there is an animal concern. We can be reached at (409) 948-2485, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. If assistance is required outside of normal operating hours a citizen can call the local sheriff’s office whom will dispatch an Animal Control Officer immediately. We look forward to working with the entire community to continue making improvements. Thanks to everyone for the opportunity to provide these valuable services.

Michele Reynolds
Manager Animal Services
Galveston County Health District
(409) 948-2485