Cameron County opens new animal shelter

SAN BENITO — It’s been years in the making and Cameron County officially has a new animal shelter.

Yesterday, Cameron County leaders celebrated the opening of the shelter with a ribbon-cutting featuring FFA students from Rio Hondo and a speech given by County Judge Eddie Trevino.

The new facility is twice the size of the previous one that first opened more than 20 years ago.

“On behalf of myself and the Cameron County Commissioners, we are committed to improving the animal control services in our county and we are proud of the work everyone put into making this facility a reality,” Trevino said in a press release.

In May of last year, Cameron County dedicated $1.3 million to the construction of a larger facility that would be able to meet the demands of the county.

The new shelter is a 5,121-square-foot facility with 24 canine kennels, 18 small cages and 16 quarantine kennels.

Small cots and silver, metal bowls are placed in every kennel, providing ample room for larger animals.

On one end of the facility, separate rooms with multiple kennels are kept for feline and canine animals in quarantine and exam rooms next door.

The new animal shelter comes equipped with a heating system to protect the animals from outdoor elements if necessary.

The facility more than doubles the size of the original shelter.

The original intent of the previous facility was to be used as a rabies control facility.

Before the creation of the new shelter, the facility served as both an impoundment center and quarantine.

With the new addition of the shelter, the older building will go back to being used as isolation and quarantine of animals in bite incidents.

The Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services will continue to enhance the animal adoption program, the press release stated.

“It is the goal of the department to encourage potential adopters to consider looking for their new best friend at the Cameron County Animal Shelter,” the statement continued.