City eyes no-kill animal shelter in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Jackson-Madison County Humane Society could become a city-funded, no-kill animal shelter, according to Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist. The mayor said the project is still in the planning phase.

Gist said they likely would use the current facility on Pinnacle Drive and build a quarantine area. He said it could cost the city a couple hundred thousand dollars a year.

“The money will obviously come from the revenue that’s produced in the city,” Gist said. “Part of it will come from the people who have provided bequeaths to the Humane Society.”

Jackson-Madison County Humane Society President Lynn Caldwell said they sometimes have 200 animals at one time. “We have to pay for the vaccinations, for the spaying, for the neutering,” she said.

Caldwell said she approached the city several years ago about taking over the Humane Society. “You can judge a community by the way it treats its animals, and I think that maybe we’re getting there,” she said.

Chris Smith is the executive director for Saving the Animals Together, a local pet rescue. She said a city funded, no-kill shelter would be a good thing for Jackson but that she still has some reservations. “My concern — without spay and neuter laws and without those being enforced — that it will be no time at all before that shelter is full also,” she said.

Gist said they are considering a spay and neuter program. “A city of our size needs to be a little bit more compassionate as far as our animals,” he said.

Gist said they hope to begin construction within the next 90 to 120 days.

The mayor said the city currently spends about $200,000 a year on animal control. He said the city also gave the Humane Society $25,000 last year.

Gist said funding for the no-kill shelter would have to be approved by the City Council.