CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas — An animal rescue group in Chambers County is calling for a new animal shelter to replace the temporary one currently in use in the county.
"Helping Paws in Chambers County" shared photographs of the conditions at the temporary shelter on their Facebook page on Monday.
"Helping Paws in Chambers County" was originally started to help homeowners get their animals spayed or neutered according to Brenda Mills, director of the nonprofit animal rescue group.
She says it evolved into a rescue when they saw the conditions the animals were in.
“There’s a lot of priorities that our commissioners are dealing with and that our Sheriff is dealing with and we understand that," Mills said. "A dog may not be at the very top of that list but it shouldn’t be at the very bottom of that list either."
Mills said they petitioned commissioners in court back in the summer of 2018. That's when commissioners agreed that a new shelter was needed and the funding was approved. In May of this year, a storm blew through and damaged the shelter.
"It tore some panels off of the building. It left the dogs exposed to the rain and the sun and the wind. It’s just an uncomfortable place," Mills said.
Mills said the new shelter is expected to have indoor and outdoor facilities, climate control, spay and neutering capabilities and they will be able to host adoption events.
“We just want something to happen quicker because we know that the shelter that will be built eventually, but it is going to take longer than we want the dogs to be in that condition," Mills said.
Mills said she took to Facebook to light a fire and put the new shelter plans back in the front minds of the commissioners and community members. She says they want to see it all the way to the end.
“Since we petitioned the court a couple of years ago, the judge and commissioners and Sheriff have been so supportive," Mills said. "It’s just a slow process and we want to speed it up just a little.”