Volunteers at the Columbia Animal Shelter say the county-owned building that houses it is in “horrendous shape” and they are looking for ways to make improvements.
A group of citizens recently approached the Marion County Board of Supervisors with concerns about the conditions at the Airport Road facility.
Marion County owns the building and pays utilities, and the city of Columbia and Columbia Police Department staff handle day-to-day operations. Volunteers have been busy working to clean up the aging facility. Jenny Watts, Deanna Martino, Brenda Kilpatrick and Carrie Magee visited the Board and told members of their concerns.
“We just need your help, your input and suggestions,” Watts said. “I, along with my friends here, have many concerns about the Columbia Animal Shelter. We’ve spent hours attempting to help the animal control officer get the building in order. We have pressure washed/scrubbed kennels and cages, hauled off loads of pest-infested food and scrubbed down walls just to name a few things. It’s pretty much falling in. It’s a mess with the wires and the rats. It’s in horrendous shape.”
Watts said she and the others were investigating grants and any other means of funding for the structure. She then asked supervisors if they had any plans to renovate the building.
“We do not have any plans,” District 2 Supervisor Terry Broome said. “We own the building and we pay the utilities. Those are the only things that we do. We haven’t even talked to the city about maybe taking over the building.”
Martino told the board that more than 80 percent of the animals at the shelter came from the county.
“When someone from the county brings one, they have to pay,” Broome said. “Animals brought in there are paid for to keep the shelter. Those dollars go to the shelter.”
Watts said that the animal control officer has recently rescued a large number of dogs from a residence and that they would not, for example, be paying fees.
“Nobody surrendered and paid for that,” she said. “I really don’t know the answers.”
“We really don’t either,” Broome responded. “We really can’t afford it. We struggle with the utilities to the building. One thing we’ve always had a bad problem with is in the winter, running heaters and in summer time, the air conditioning. You’re looking at anywhere from a $500 to $800 power bill every month. The water is $200 to $300 minimum. We put over $1,000 a month in there just on utilities. It’s pretty expensive.”
Marion County has no leash laws or animal ordinances, but the city of Columbia has several regulations for animals.
“We look at it as our share of generating funds for the shelter is that if a county resident takes a dog to the shelter, they are going to have pay the shelter $20 to take the dog,” Broome said. “They are generating some funds. In a hoarding type deal or an abuse deal, nobody is paying for them.”
Watts suggested increasing the surrender costs to help operate the shelter.
“$20 for a dog is not going maintain that dog indefinitely,” she said.
The group also discussed the possibility of moving the shelter to another location and/or renovating the current structure. District 5 Supervisor Calvin Newsom said that when the facility was built it was a first-class structure. Newsom said the building and grounds cost more than $100,000 when it was set up.
“We need to do a once-a-month cleaning,” Martino said. “It is an absolute health hazard to the workers. It is unbearable sometimes.”
The group said it was willing to apply for grants, hold fundraisers and do whatever it could to help the shelter. County officials said moving it to the BusinessPlex property was not an option.
“We prefer not to use any building out there as a shelter,” Broome said, “We don’t know what is going to take place in the future. We might have a lot of things in the works and it might interfere with the plans for out there. As far as an answer, I don’t know what it is. This is a big issue, not just here, but nationally. You look at the TV at night – you would think there would be money for it somewhere. I don’t know who or what may have grants.”
The citizens group agreed to keep looking for answers.
Pictured Above: A group of citizens is looking to make improvements to the Columbia Animal Shelter on Airport Road. Marion County owns the building and pays utilities, which can be more than $1,000 a month, and the city of Columbia operates it. | Photo by Charlie Smith
