Smith County Considers New, High-Visibility Pet Shelter

(Smith County, Texas)  If you're looking for unconditional love then you need to adopt a pet.

Being greeted by a dog wagging its tail or the meow of a cat when you walk in the door after a hard day at work or pushing a shopping cart down a grocery store aisle, there's nothing like it. These animals are super excited to see you and excited to give you their love and affection.

Unfortunately, there are some very irresponsible pet owners in Smith County and thanks to their despicable acts, dogs and cats are often dumped out on county roads and city neighborhoods left for them to fend for themselves. They are then, hopefully, picked up by Smith County Animal Control and taken to their facility in downtown Tyler.

Smith County Animal Control is looking for a new facility

Once an animal is picked up they are taken to the shelter, evaluated, and hopefully they are fit enough to be considered for adoption. These animals then live out their lives in a kennel 24 hours a day.

Local animal advocates and the Smith County Animal Shelter director recently addressed the Smith County Commissioners Court about the possibility of a new shelter facility.

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Shelter director Amber Green spoke the county judges about a new shelter for the county. She would like to see a new shelter, one that would be in a more prominent part of the city and one that would attract more possible pet adopters. She presented the judges with three potential locations.

Greene told the commissioner's court,

High visibility locations not only increases visitors In the number of pets adopted and the return to owners, but also reduces the need for animal euthanasia, and helps build public awareness and community goodwill. (CBS19)

The current shelter is located in downtown Tyler. The shelter moved into the old Crescent Laundry building in 2016, a building that dates back to 1927, according to KLTV.

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Smith County Judge Neal Franklin is open to this, he says,

I would like to see it fairly soon. But I want to make sure we do our homework. The planning and the location is just vital on this.

All options are being considered. If approved, the project would be funded by reserves from the 2025 and 2026 county capital improvements budget along with funds that were set aside from the American Rescue Plan Act.