The system used by the city of Ellisville, Mississippi to house stray animals is a living hell for the cats and dogs trapped inside. Lost pets have little chance of being reunited with their owners and abandoned pets have zero chance of being adopted. The facility has no official hours and does not offer adoption services. After five days pets are sent to a local veterinary office for euthanasia.
The facility which is designed strictly to "hold stray animals" is made of cinderblock with two small windows and no air conditioning. It is reported to have small rusted cages inside. The facility is run by one part time employee.
Ellisville, MS has received complaints about the facility since 2007. Mayor Tim Waldrup says the city meets all of the current laws, but has been promising a new building for the past 6 years. Currently a new animal rescue group has offered to run a humane animal shelter for the city if one is built. The mayor is refusing this joint venture.
Lost and homeless animals deserve to stay in humane conditions that allow their owners to find them easily or enable them to be adopted into new homes. They do not deserve to be held in a small, isolated, hot cinderblock facility in rusty cages until they can be euthanized without a chance for a new life.
Dear Mayor Waldrup and the City Council of Ellisville,
We the undersigned are writing for your support to make immediate changes to the way your city houses stray animals. The system of your holding facility gives little chance for owners to be reunited with their lost pets and gives zero possibility for homeless cats and dogs to be adopted. In addition, the cinderblock holding facility without air conditioning and old cages does not provide humane conditions for the animals.
We ask that you find a way to provide humane conditions for these animals that also allow for adoptions. We ask that you work in conjunction with Kimberly Martin DVM of Ellisville Animal Medical Center, as she has already been saving some of the strays in your facility, and Southern Cross Animal Rescue or another established animal rescue group.
We ask that you immediately address this concern and provide immediate humane treatment for the homeless animals in your city.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this petition.
