Animal rights activists fight for improved services at Taylor County Animal Shelter

• Concerned community members call for better animal care in Taylor County.
• On Tuesday, numerous people came to express their concerns to those responsible in the region.
• Watch the video above to see what options might be available in the future.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE MISSION:

Animal rights activists fight for better care at Taylor County Animal Shelter. I'm Maya Sargent from Perry.

I'm taking a closer look at what the animals need and how the county plans to address neighbors' concerns. At Tuesday's Taylor County Commission meeting, the animal welfare organization Hearts for Hometown Dogs and concerned community members called for better care for the animals at animal control.

“Our animal control is broken and needs direction,” one person said.

“These include the unaddressed medical issues of the animals, the condition of the shelter itself and the lack of paid support from staff. If someone were to walk through that shelter and stay in there for 20 minutes, it would break your heart.”

Pat Brannen is a volunteer with Hearts for Hometown Dogs. At Tuesday's meeting, the organization said she will no longer volunteer with animal control until changes are made to protect the animals.

“Puppies run around in their dirt, no food, no water. They knock it over and it stays there,”

Hearts for Hometown Dogs tells me they want the county to allocate more money to animal control. They want accountability.

At the meeting on Tuesday, the district presented options for further action.

“Make a list of things that need to be done to bring to the board. That's what we want, do this, do that.” I reached out to the county and Commissioner Pam Feagle on Wednesday, who put the item on the meeting agenda.

Several community members have called me to share Pat's thoughts and want the county to do more to help the endangered animals here.

As of Wednesday afternoon, we have not received a response from the county. At the meeting, Hearts for Hometown Dogs told me that the county had proposed holding a workshop in September to review the shelter's procedures.