Note: Articles by this writer on the Jeff Davis County Humane Society, the Alpine Humane Society, and the Alpine Animal Control Department first ran in June 2005 in The Desert-Mountain Times. This article seeks to summarize those earlier pieces and to update them with information on events that have taken place in the last six weeks.

Future articles will cover animal welfare in other parts of the Tri-counties.

The good news is that there is no shortage of great dogs and cats in the Tri-counties. The bad, and sad, news is that a majority of them are unwanted.

Lauren Spear, president of the Alpine Humane Society, sees abandoned animals as a continuing problem in Alpine. Her organization has a generous budget for its spay/neuter program, but pet population continues to be an uphill battle since so many animals are allowed to breed.

“Every student, it seems, wants a dog. But then school’s over, the dog’s had puppies, and there’s no one to care for them. So they end up at the shelter,” Spear said. “We euthanize a lot of animals here.”

In the countryside, despite predators such as coyotes, hawks and the occasional mountain lion that might be expected to keep the feral population down, the unchecked reproduction of homeless dogs and cats threatens bird populations, livestock, pets and humans.

Infection and starvation are horrible ways to die, but that is the fate of many domestic animals living in the wild. Injuries from fights, motor vehicles and accidents also take their toll.

In addition, there are few people willing to adopt, so even many healthy, domesticated animals are destined for euthanasia.

Of course, this is not a problem confined to Far West Texas, but for those of us who live here, it is a universal problem that calls for a local solution.

Education about the importance of limiting reproduction is vital, said Laura Langham, shelter manager for the Jeff Davis County Humane Society. Spay/neuter programs that offer the procedures to the public at low or no cost are essential, and a greater number of adoptive homes for animals must be found if the Tri-counties is to get a handle on this problem, Langham said.

The Jeff Davis County Humane Society was founded in Fort Davis in 1993 in response to the community’s need for an acceptable means of dealing with stray animals. The organization is the only animal welfare organization in the county, and it has been able to overcome its tiny budget only through the support of Janet Greathouse and David Taylor, veterinarians at Fort Davis Veterinary Services, who housed, fed and cared for the county strays until September 2004.

Last fall, income from the thrift shop the society had opened in January 2004 made it possible to create a temporary shelter on Langham’s property near Fort Davis. Greathouse and Taylor still take care of medical needs, but the shelter itself is now a separate entity. The move was made in anticipation of the society’s finding land for a permanent shelter, but at the time, it had no guarantees. Then, in January 2005, an anonymous donor gave the society $26,000 to purchase 6 acres of land in Fort Davis.

Now Langham has begun to look at ways to raise $2 million to be used to endow the operation of a new, state-of-the-art shelter on this land, and in about six months, the society will be able to hire a part-time administrative assistant who will assist in this next adventure.

And it appears that the need for the new shelter is becoming more urgent as the number of animals coming through the society’s shelter increases: historically the society has handled about 100 animals annually, but in the first 6 months of 2005, they have taken in 77 strays. In the first quarter of this year, the society adopted out 20 animals, in the second quarter the figure jumped to 35, almost double. All of these animals have been spayed/neutered, inoculated and dewormed.

Working toward a future shelter does not keep Langham and her volunteers from sticking with the other part of their mission: getting the animals in their care adopted into permanent homes.

“We go to the ends of the earth to find these animals homes,” Langham said. The society advertises locally and has pet adoption days locally and in Midland. Some of the animals go to the Humane Society in San Antonio, a shelter with a good adoption rate.

And Langham and the Humane Society Friends group and other volunteers never miss a chance to get their dogs in front of possible adopters. Cats and kittens, too, are available for adoption, but they remain at the shelter rather than make public appearances.

Dressed in blue t-shirts emblazoned with “I’m homeless,” shelter dogs have recently attended the Big Bend Arts Council/Alpine Public Library Art Chair Auction, marched in two 4th of July parades and been present at the Humane Society’s Hot Diggity Dog celebration of the society’s new land.

They will be at an adoption day at the True Value in Alpine on August 6, at the Alpine Christian School fundraiser on August 20 and at the Marfa Lights Festival over Labor Day Weekend. And one lucky dog will be auctioned to a pre-approved buyer at the August 13 members’ barbeque at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute in Fort Davis. (Contact Langham at 432.426.3724.)

The issue of adoption is one that has continued to challenge the city of Alpine, its animal control department and the Alpine Humane Society. Located on a private ranch in an area of the county near the city limits, public access to the shelter is impossible. If a would-be adopter wants to see the animals, they must telephone Animal Control Officer Carin Crane to make an appointment and be escorted to the shelter.

While some animals are listed on the shelter’s website (www.petfinder.com/shelters/alpine-critters.html), Crane tries her best to find homes by calling around to possible adopters, friends and other animal shelters. About 45 animals a month, 90 percent of them dogs, pass through the shelter, Crane said. But with 40 dogs coming in, 18 dog runs and few adopters, euthanasia is the fate of most shelter animals.

In recent weeks, a group of interested citizens has been meeting with Alpine City Manager Karen Philippi, Spear and Crane to try to move forward on a new shelter for the City of Alpine.

In 2004, Spear presented a plan to the Alpine city council and the Brewster County commissioners: the society had been given 5.86 acres of land on Hwy. 118 north. It was also promised 14 acres of city-owned land. The county agreed to prepare the sites for construction, and the society offered $100,000 toward the project.

It seemed to many that the Humane Society and the city were getting ready to build and maintain a new, accessible shelter.

But nothing happened.

Improvements were made to the existing shelter – heating, cooling, a kitchen with washer and dryer and an outdoor exercise area, but no new shelter was built.

Philippi and others feel that the first priority for a new shelter is a better, more accessible, location. The property on Hwy. 118 north would provide that – it is directly west of the Lost Alaskan RV Park. While the land has water, it would still need a septic system, as the city sewer does not extend along the west side of the highway, Philippi said. She is looking into the cost of a septic system.

Crane has received prices for shelter facilities from Houndquarter’s, a company that manufactures insulated dog kennel buildings. The cost ranges from $42 to $110 a square foot depending on the amount of work the contractor must do verses private in-kind or city/county participation.

The current Alpine animal shelter is small (the room in which cats are kept is 105 square feet, the size of a large closet); it has no rest room for staff and only 18 dog runs. The current draft of a possible shelter indicates about 2400 square feet, just to meet minimum needs of 25 dog runs, a 200 square foot room for cats, isolation rooms for both, restroom facilities, kitchen and food preparation areas, an office and a reception area.

But before ground can be broken, many decisions regarding the operation of the shelter must be put in place. An agreement between the city and the humane society must be reached on which areas each group will be responsible for. Will the city own the shelter and the humane society operate it or will the society own a city-operated shelter?

How far will the $100,000 the Humane Society is willing to donate go toward building a suitable facility? If there is a decision to have the contractor build the entire facility, the $250,000 cost is far more than available funds. Will the new shelter facility be put on hold while funds are raised?

While these details are being worked out by Philippi, Crane, the Humane Society and the interested citizens group, the animals at the shelter continue to need help that volunteers can provide.

The shelter needs volunteers to foster animals and prepare them for permanent adoption, to update the website with photos and information, to make animals in the shelter known to the public through ads and posters, to visit and interact with shelter animals, and to work for a more effective adoption program.

To volunteer with the shelter, contact Carin Crane through the Alpine police dispatcher, 432.837.3486.

The Alpine Humane Society will pay for spay/neuter procedures at one of the area’s veterinary clinics. Call Marilyn Shotwell at 432.837.7214 to make arrangements.

Dallas Baxter, with a BFA Design, UT-Austin &  M. Div., New York Theological Seminary, finds her garden is the natural place for design and theology to coincide. She has been a student of the Big Bend since arriving here five years ago. She can be contacted directly at: dallasbaxter@bigbendgazette.com.