A Cochise County resident, Allison Morse, used her public-comment time on Dec. 16 to present a long list of questions about a proposed county-owned animal shelter that staff planned to discuss at an afternoon work session.

Morse asked whether the new shelter would be no-kill like Douglas’s facility, whether it would accept household pets beyond dogs and cats (for example, ferrets or tortoises), and whether the county intended to house farm animals such as horses or sheep and whether adequate space would be provided. She also asked about kennel sizes and designs, whether cats would be adopted or euthanized, provisions for animals not adopted by the public, whether the facility would conduct trap-neuter-release (TNR) for feral cats, heating and cooling plans for dog housing, outside shade structures, and policies for night drop-offs (including unattended animals and sick animals). Morse said she had emailed the questions to board members and the sheriff and asked for them to be addressed at the work session.

A meeting participant indicated many of Morse’s questions would be addressed in that afternoon’s meeting. Morse said she was relaying concerns from constituents who could not attend. The board did not act on the shelter questions during the regular meeting; staff planned to handle them at the scheduled work session.