MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV — The city says they have 600 dogs in foster care and another 200 at the Waco Animal Shelter, leaving 800 dogs the City of Waco is responsible for.
- The Waco Animal Shelter was built in the 1950’s, back in 2016, they saw major renovations, but after years of inadequate space for medical procedures.
- The expansion plan consists of several different phases, a few of the improvements include a new clinic building, surgical suites, increased parking, an eight-foot privacy fence and easy to find public entrances.
- It’ll be a space with more room to take care of animals—but it will also be a space without the Humane Society after months of failed contract negotiations.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“We discovered that we didn’t have adequate space to be able to quarantine upper respiratory infections or for an airborne disease,” said Assistant City Manager Ryan Holt.
The Waco Animal Shelter was built in the 1950’s, and in 2016, they saw major renovations, but after years of inadequate space for medical procedures.
“We had to move quarantined animals into regular kennels, which displaced other animals and lowered our number of animals we can take care of any one time,” said Holt.
The City of Waco now has a plan to expand the animal shelter after years of purchasing nearby property.
“Animal control is now dealing with taking animals in at an all time high right now, and we’re having trouble dealing with the capacity that are coming in, and we’re trying to find a humane way to deal with that,” said Mayor of Waco Jim Holmes.
The expansion plan consists of several different phases, a few of the improvements include a new clinic building, surgical suites, increased parking, an 8 foot privacy fence and easy to find public entrances.
“The medical clinic will now have a U shaped drive that provides a secure area for animal control officers to come into animal care officers or for people who are taking care of foster animals for us. They’ll have their own entrance to get into the clinic,” said Ryan Holt.
It’ll be a space with more room to take care of animals, but it will also be a space without the Humane Society after months of failed contract negotiations.
Mayor Holmes and one other councilman mentioned keeping a partnership with the humane society, and now that they’re moving they hope to continue working together.
“Sure, we will continue to partner with all of our animal care groups in Waco and McLennan County and further beyond,” said Assistant City Manager Ryan Holt.
“We would still like to remain partners with the humane society they’re very good at placement and we’re going to depend on their passion and volunteerism to help with the solution,” said Mayor Holmes.
25 News did reach out to the Humane Society on what they think the partnership will look like moving forward, and they say they are not able to comment at the time because of ongoing negotiations.
