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Politics & Government

Fate of Animal Holding Room or Animal Shelter Unclear

City Council wants more information before acting.

It remains unclear when, or if, Bowie will have a dedicated animal shelter, an animal holding room or both.

Animal advocates, particularly Citizens for Local Animal Welfare (CLAW), continue to lobby the Bowie City Council for an animal shelter, which they say would allow owners several days to pick up their lost pets rather than having to go to the county’s animal control facility in Upper Marlboro.

CLAW is proposing that the former headquarters of the Bowie Police Department at the Kenhill Center be converted to an animal shelter. Their proposal is currently on the list of the city’s capital improvement for the year after next.

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CLAW is lobbying the Bowie City Council to move up the building of a shelter to next year.  A decision on whether that occurs is expected when the city government puts together its budget in the spring.

“We can contribute $100,000 to the project that we received from an anonymous donor and we are applying to the state for a $50,000 grant,”  CLAW president Connie Carter told Patch.

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But Bowie City Manager David J. Deutsch is cautioning the City Council that now isn’t the right time to enter the animal shelter business.

He wrote in a report to the City Council that personnel costs for the city to run its own animal shelter would be $80,000 or more per year. And with the city taking assertive steps to return lost pets to owners, Deutsch noted animal control statistics continue to improve.

As an example, so far this year just one dog and one cat have been euthanized after being taken from Bowie to the county shelter.

“In light of the trend seen in the statistics from the county, a wait and see posture might be most prudent especially in this tight economy,” Deutsch’s report stated.

Deutsch wants city staff to proceed with opening an animal holding room in city hall, which he said would allow pet owners to pick up their lost pets locally into the evening. The goal was to open the holding room next month.

The City Council, however, put the animal holding room project on hold during its meeting Monday night. Rodney Taylor, who heads the Prince George’s County animal shelter, told the council that the city project needed cylinder block walls to better separate cats and dogs and to stop the spread of disease, and an additional drain.

Council member Dennis Brady (at large) suggested that in light of the additional potential costs, it might be best to scrap the holding room project and move forward with animal shelter next year.

He also said that the holding room would only allow pet owners until the early evening to pick up their animals, which he said would not be enough time.

The council, however, voted to direct Deutsch to come back with estimates next month on how much it would cost to make the improvements recommended by Taylor.

 

 

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