Staffers at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter want to build a shelter expansion that could cost $14.3 million and are asking the county and four partner cities to share the cost.
Since the shelter opened in 2007, the county and the cities of Cedar Park, Hutto, Leander and Round Rock have participated in the shelter program. Director of Animal Services Cheryl Schneider said the facility has been crowded ever since then, forcing staffers to line hallways with kitten kennels and place two dogs in spaces intended for one. Peak periods, such as Mondays after a weekend of numerous owner surrenders or seasons of high kitten births, also tax the shelter’s resources, she said.
“The shelter was built with about half the kennels it needed to begin with,” Schneider said.
The facility in south Georgetown accepts animals from cities throughout Williamson County and also offers adoption services as well as grant-supported spaying and neutering for dogs and cats.
Along with more space, the shelter also needs repairs for flooring, air conditioning and drains, Schneider said at a May 21 Leander City Council meeting.
Williamson County Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey told Leander leaders the shelter also needs an isolation area for sick animals and a segregation area for kittens and puppies.
In June the shelter was full with about 150 dogs and 130 cats and hundreds more animals waiting in the shelter’s pet foster care program, Schneider said. A county population boom means more stray animals, and the shelter has projected expansion needs through 2035 and 2050, she said.
The shelter’s lack of kennel space and use of wire crates to house dogs led to the shelter being found in violation of state regulations by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, Schneider told Cedar Park City Council on May 21.
“We were on probation for six months,” she said.
Construction costs
The $14.3 million early estimate would be for a two-story wing built within the next few years, Schneider said. But staffers are first asking city governments to appropriate a total of $997,450 in fiscal year 2015-16 for construction documents that would include a more-specific cost estimate.
Each city’s cost would be based on the city’s average portions of animals at the shelter, she said.
Schneider said the expansion estimates are based on the shelter’s attempt not only to plan for the future but catch up to the shelter’s current needs. On May 21, Covey said the shelter cannot move forward without support from all five partner governments.
Covey also recommended council members decide soon, within their next budget seasons.
“The fear would be that we would not continue these programs,” Covey said. “Their goal, in a no-kill facility, is to adopt every animal adoptable.”
Additional reporting by Lyndsey Taylor
