WESLACO — City officials may already be reaping the benefits from nearly $100,000 in recent improvements at the animal shelter.
Investments of $50,000 and about $47,000 have over the last several months funded several upgrades, including as many as 15 additional kennels. The shelter, located at 1912 Joe Stephens Ave., Suite B, in Weslaco, now totals 24 kennels and has since kept more strays off the streets as a result.
Still, its function isn’t necessarily designed to significantly reduce the number of strays in the area, especially when considering that animal control officers service the several colonias located within city limits. Local citrus fields are also known to attract critters such as opossums and the like.
Every month, for instance, the city picks up as many as 200 animals with at least 80 percent being expired rodents, Joe Pedraza, health official for the City of Weslaco, said.
“They’re usually just dead animals caught in traps, like opossums,” he added. “Just keep that in mind, because everyone thinks it’s 200 well-kept animals that can get adopted. That’s not the case. It’s a common misconception that the community has when they see the numbers coming in, assuming they’re adoptable animals. Most are opossums, which have become a problem.”
The aforementioned benefits lie more in the numbers, particularly six figures worth of savings.
According to Pedraza, the code enforcement department once budgeted anywhere from $120,000 to $150,000 for the disposal of animals alone. Thanks to the shelter providing more accommodations and resources, as well as cutting down on expenses associated with animal transports, costs have since decreased by three times to just $50,000.
Without the shelter, Pedraza estimates that city expenses would be somewhere in the vicinity of $205,000.
“The $50,000 is mainly for operating costs for the shelter,” Pedraza said. “We’re also really pushing for (animal) relocation efforts and have partnered with entities to help us out. They come and pick up the animals, and they relocate them up north — like in Colorado or North Texas. Those that we know are going to be adoptable can also be taken to the Upper Valley Humane Society in Edinburg (which has operated as the Palm Valley Animal Shelter since 2007).”
Pedraza further noted that Weslaco’s animal shelter also functions as an animal care facility with two quarantine areas housed within the grounds, and added that officials will continue efforts to better service the community.
