The City of Gladewater’s poised to collar more of the community’s animal control issues in the coming Fiscal Year.
With FY2024 ending Sept. 30, Oct. 1 will kick off a slate of freshly-funded projects across the city. Animal control got a small injection of funds late in the recent budget talks, just enough tax dollars to make a difference in conjunction with an evolving enforcement strategy.
Gladewater City Manager Charlie Smith has a couple of key goals to corral dogs, cats and, in particular, pet owners’ apathy in FY25 – No. 1, upgrading the city’s animal holding capacity (and security) via a new, cost-conservative facility at the wastewater treatment plant along with enhanced enforcement against repeat violators of the city’s relevant restrictions.
It will move animal control from a complaint basis toward proactive enforcement.
“Basically, it’s to reduce the number of calls that we get on animals that are running at large,” Smith said, “because the owners aren’t taking responsibility for these animals they have taken in.”
With a slight surplus left to be allocated at the tail end of budget discussions, city council members set aside up to $5,000 for concrete and other costs tied to installing new animal control pens – replacing the existing, less-than-ideal setup behind Gladewater Police Department.
Relocating the animal pens to the wastewater treatment plant solves a significant ongoing security issue: the two 10×10 pens behind GPD are accessible to anyone, and animal owners often come and pick up their wayward pets without permission after the city’s already incurred costs in getting the critters off the streets.
“People have gone by there and put animals in them also,” Smith said.
The wastewater facility off the loop is already secured from the public; breaching that perimeter will incur serious consequences.
“There wouldn’t be any more of that dumping or getting animals out. They’d have to trespass to get in there and do that.”
Construction on the new pens begins next month with concrete work. City workers (and, potentially, volunteers) will also put to use repurposed materials previously purchased for other projects put on hold. The working plan is for a lean-to structure containing six pens.
“What I would like to do is have enough chain link to have an outer perimeter,” Smith added, separating the animal control area from the rest of the wastewater grounds.
Once the new, key pieces are in place, there will be an opportunity to refine the overall animal control process ñ reducing costs, enforcing codes, reuniting pets and owners more efficiently and keeping the community and its animals as safe as possible.
“It can be done. We can streamline.”
The City of Gladewater pays just more than $200 per unclaimed animal that’s taken to the Longview Animal Care & Adoption Center.
“It doesn’t matter what size,” Smith added. “If it’s a cat, if it’s a dog, whatever, it costs us the same.”
Notably, the city’s animal control officer, Colby Warren, puts particular effort into re-homing roaming animals, sparing city coffers the surrender fees whenever possible.
“He does work to find owners for the animals,” Smith said. When that’s a no-go, “He does find places to keep them.
“Gladewater spends less every year than what White Oak does simply for that fact.”
The municipality also maintains a feline Trap-Neuter-Release program, working with Healthy Paws Animal Hospital and Sabine River Veterinary Clinic to control the local feral cat population.
“It’s so much cheaper” than surrendering the animals to Longview’s facility, Smith said. “We’re looking at less than $100 per animals for those cats.”
– By James Draper