A seven-member steering committee is forming to look at options for a new animal shelter, Jefferson city administrator Mike Palmer told the county board of supervisors during his monthly update Monday.
The steering committee will look at possible funding options, staffing, and other considerations. The location most often discussed is at the municipal airport east of Jefferson.
The current animal shelter on city property at the wastewater treatment plant on W. Russell St is inadequate to meet the needs of volunteers and animals. It was originally intended to be only a city shelter, but now houses dogs and cats from the entire county. The increasing number of dogs running at large, and the increase burden on the nearly countywide law enforcement services of the sheriff’s department, have been discussed several times at the county supervisors’ meetings. The supervisors acknowledge the need for a new shelter but are reluctant to become partners in the management of it.
