Residents press quorum court for county animal control and shelter funding after multiple abandonments

Residents and several court members spent the public-comment period urging the quorum court to address animal-abandonment, cruelty and the lack of a county animal control program.

Virginia Hall told the court that four severely neglected dogs were abandoned and that neighbors and local rescue groups ultimately rehomed them. "They were starving to death," Hall said. She said the sheriff's office told her the county has no facility or personnel to pick up such animals.

Sheriff's Office representatives confirmed the county currently lacks a county-run shelter or full-time animal-control officers. One speaker said a previous county animal-control ordinance and associated shelter operations were repealed or transferred to the city in prior years. Court members recalled that operating an animal shelter and staffing enforcement had at times cost the county in the mid-six figures; figures cited in discussion ranged up to about $350,000 for prior shelter operations.

Court discussion and response

Justices and the sheriff said enforcement options remain: animal-abuse statutes can support misdemeanor or felony charges in extreme…