BISHOP, Tx — In most wills, the heirs are usually spouses, children, or other family members. But that's not what one Bishop woman did.
Local Bishop woman Joan Rae Ginther passed away, but before she did she left a large sum of money to the city.
“We had a nice surprise here recently where we found out $200,000 were left to us,” Bishop Chief of Police Edward Day said.
Bishop Animal Control Services has about $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to spend each year for the department.
“Funding is always an issue. We have to make that last throughout the year,” Day said.
But this year, with the help of Ginther, who was well-known in the community, they have extra funds.
“Her dad used to be a doctor many years ago. I used to work at the grocery store, and she used to go in there and buy tickets, and she won the lottery. I would say 20 or 15 years ago,” Bishop man Abel Garcia said.
The money will be used to expand the current facility, which has 8 kennels and 10 cages. Right now, it can only house 16 animals at a time.
“It fills up pretty fast. Once we’re at capacity, we can’t take any more animals in, which becomes a public safety issue, especially if we have aggressive animals that are loose. So we’re constantly trying to get those animals out for foster, adoption or last case scenario euthanasia,” Day said.
Animal Control Services is hoping to make the current facility a rabies quarantine area and build on to that, adding 20 more kennels and a lobby.
“That frees up those funds to go to other areas where they might not have had the budget they needed, so fuel, animal food, animal supply, anything like that,” Day said.
Garcia said he hopes those extra funds will be used wisely.
“I used to be animal control several years ago. The animal control shelter does need a lot of repairs. The doors are rusted out. The roof is leaking. It needs a lot of help. Or at least help to get the animal control guys better vehicles and transportation,” Garcia said.
And as for Joan, her legacy will live on.
“What I’m hoping for is once we get the facility's built, we can go before council and have it named after her. I think that would be a good gesture to do to show our appreciation,” Day said.
Bishop Animal Control Services will begin the bidding process around the end of October. Construction for the facility could begin in February.
The Animal Control Department does accept monetary donations as well as space heaters and blankets for the winter months. They are always looking for people to adopt animals as well. To contact Animal Control Services, head to their Facebook page or call the non-emergency number at (361) 584-2443.
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