By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
It was almost one year ago when the Montague County Commissioner’s Court approved the construction of a county-wide animal shelter, just the first step in a process that can hopefully address a long-time and growing stray dog problem across the county.
On Jan. 17 the court voted yes to build an animal control facility on the old county farm property outside Montague. The sheriff’s office consistently deals with animal calls, and the growth of subdivisions is only expected to fuel the animal problems across the county as more people move into the area.
County Judge Kevin Benton said everyone knows there has been a need for a county shelter for years, but it was a matter of costs and finding a way it could efficiently fit into county operations.
“I had some previous discussion with Sheriff Marshall Thomas about stray dogs because his office receives so many calls about them, but they really don’t have the capacity to deal with them. We worked with the Nocona and Saint Jo volunteer shelters purchasing kennels where officers can place animals during off hours, but all the shelters stay full. Animal control is expensive and there is no money in the budget,” said Benton.

Read the full story on the county animal shelter in the weekend Bowie News.

Top photo – New kennels have been built at the shelter and metal gates will soon be added. (photo by Barbara Green)