City Council members approve money for Animal Care Center for second time

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson City Council members recognized a community leader, rezoned land, and rallied for a new animal care center in Tuesday’s meeting.

“We are requesting $1.3 million to build, out of the capital fund, to build a new Jackson Animal Care Center,” Dr. Vicki Lake, chairperson of the Jackson Animal Task Force, said.

She and Frank McMeen spoke passionately about Jackson’s Animal Care Center project in the meeting. “We’re asking you to put Jackson in a place where people want to come and see our city,” McMeen said.

This process has taken over two years. The original authorization was done in 2016. “This will also deal with the safety of our community, in getting animals off the street and into the adoption center so we can get them into homes,” Lake said.

The city agreed, and they unanimously voted to approve the center. Mayor Jerry Gist says it should be completed by this time next year. “We want to be the model for our state, because it just speaks volumes about us as a people,” he said.

Along with approving that money, the meeting also took an emotional turn when a student ambassador from Do The Write Thing gave a speech.

Laila Houston got emotional when she read her speech. “It was about the causes of youth violence, how it affected my life, and what we can do to solve it,” she said.

She and Ben Pledger were ambassadors for the program in Washington, D.C. “Hearing everybody’s stories, you know, what they’ve been through, and just knowing that other people have been through what you’ve been through,” Pledger said. They thanked the city for the opportunity.