- The City of Premont recently opened its doors to the new animal control facility.
- The town's old shelter was torn down six years ago when TxDOT acquired the land for the bypass on Highway 281.
- The shelter cost nearly $400,000.
There’s a new animal shelter in Premont that is open for temporary care of stray animals. The Animal Control facility opened after the old facility was torn down six years ago.
Premont Mayor Priscilla Vargas said there will always be an animal issue in the city, but neighbors are hoping the new shelter will do more than just house strays.
“It’s a really distressing situation. A lot of the residents allow their animals to run the street. So, we don’t know whether they’re animals that are stray or belong to someone,” Premont resident Edita Lindenman said.
Lindenman has lived in Premont for over a decade, She has rescued dogs, cats, and two horses. She said that her animals give her a sense of family and keep her safe. But despite her love for animals, she said Premont has a bad stray problem.
“People don’t seem to respect the sentient lives of four-legged critters,” Lindenman said.
The City of Premont spent nearly $400,000 on a new animal shelter located off of Highway 281 bypass near Corridor I69.
“(The) previous animal control facility was extremely outdated. It, also, was only able to hold six dogs at any one time. One of those, obviously, to hold the quarantine. Here, I believe, it holds 8 to 10 and in the quarantine there’s four. So, we’re able to utilize the space as a whole,” Mayor Vargas said.
The new facility is not open to the public, but the mayor said the city is partnering with non-profit organizations to help neighbors adopt the animals. Animal pictures will be posted onto the city’s Facebook page and anyone interested should call the city.
“There’s always going to be an animal issue. There’s some dogs that people let them out. They go out from under the fences. There’s also stray dogs especially since we’re surrounded by the county,” Vargas said.
The problem isn’t just seeing the animals on the street.
Maylinda Perez is a long-time Premont neighbor who also works at the Wilkinson Veterinary Clinic. She said stray dogs can be dangerous.
“Down in our neighborhood, when I use to live with my parents, we would always have stray animals coming and going. There was a lot of children and they would wait for the bus and, so, they would get chased by dogs. And that would become a pretty serious situation,” Perez said.
She said strays are usually unvaccinated animals that can carry diseases, posing a threat to neighbors and animals. She believes the new shelter will help.
“I’m really happy that the city has their shelter back up. It’s gonna be a lot better now that they can get the animals off the street,” Perez said.
Lindenman said the best way to reduce strays in the animal shelter is to spay and neuter them.
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