By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
Dec. 11, 2000
A public meeting Tuesday night could help determine whether Lauderdale County supervisors lease land to a local Humane Society organization.
Causeyville animal activist Cheryl Walton has been trying to gain supervisors' support for about four months and has housed stray animals on her property for about a year. She and other Humane Society supporters say they are running out of space.
District 5 Supervisor Ray Boswell and District 3 Supervisor Craig Hitt are on a committee charged with finding a solution to the county's stray dog and cat problem. They chose a piece of county-owned property on Lakeland Road between the paupers' cemetery and the Lost Gap Volunteer Fire Department as a potential site for an animal shelter.
They discussed it with the other supervisors at a work session Nov. 30, and took Walton to see the site.
He said community members will have to pledge financial support and be willing to volunteer before supervisors will provide a low-cost site to the organization. The property would also revert back to the county if community support ceases after they approve the land lease.
Supervisors say the other alternative open to them using $100,000 in county funds to expand the city's shelter then paying the city $30 to take each animal are too costly.
Walton said she met with other supporters late last week to get ready for Tuesday night's meeting. She says community efforts are crucial in solving the problem of unwanted animals. The Humane Society would take animals from both Lauderdale County and Meridian, she said.
The public meeting is from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the supervisors' boardroom on the first floor of the Raymond P. Davis County Annex Building. Hitt and Boswell said they plan to attend.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.
A public meeting about establishing a Lauderdale County Humane Society will he held Tuesday, from 7 to 9 p.m., on the first floor of the Raymond P. Davis County Annex Building.