Vardaman aldermen again tabled the proposed dog ordinance for the same reasons as the previous months – who will pick the dogs up and humanely house them.
A public meeting will be held after the next board meeting on Jan. 2, to gauge interest in starting a no-kill shelter here.
Representatives from two no-kill dog shelters in the county talked to the Vardaman board of aldermen about the benefits of having a local shelter, and aldermen agreed that would be the best solution and to look for someone to organize a shelter in Vardaman.
Rose Wells
Rose Wells of the Dog Lovers League in Bruce and Melissa Whitten of the newly formed Saving Paws in Calhoun City told the board about the success they have had in their groups.
Wells said the Bruce group had taken in and adopted out more than 1,000 dogs in three years.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Wells said. “People who love dogs get to help. Dogs who need food and shelter get homes and for people who don’t like dogs, it gets them off the street.”
Wells said it doesn’t have to cost the town any money. The shelter in Bruce operates solely on donations, sponsors, fundraisers and a couple of grants.
The shelter started in an individual’s home and then built a shelter with pens on land leased by the town adjacent to the lagoon.
She said the first step would be for a group of volunteers to organize in the town and then find a spot for the shelter.
“Bruce has a core group of about 20 volunteers,” she said. “It’s a community effort, and becomes a community project. Students and clubs can get needed volunteer hours with us.”
Wells said they had asked other towns to join in and they now had no-kill shelters in Water Valley, Pontotoc and Grenada, and Houlka and Houston are discussing organizing shelters in their town.
“That’s the only way its going to happen if someone in this town organizes it,” said Alderman Jeff Hamilton.
In another matter, the board discussed shopping for decorative Christmas flags to use in town in place of the lighted electric decorations.
The board approved:
•getting quotes for a flat tip bucket for the water department
•hiring Willis Engineering to do the work for the ARC sewer grant for Furniture Wood
•Christmas holiday closing for Dec. 25-26 and January 1.