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'Nowhere for these animals to go' | Faulkner Co. residents plead for shelter, foster volunteers

With no plans of building an animal shelter in Faulkner County anytime soon, dozens of people met in Conway to think of what to do next to control the animal population.

CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) – With no plans of building an animal shelter in Faulkner County anytime soon, dozens of people met in Conway to think of what to do next to control the animal population.

This comes after the Faulkner County Quorum Court struck down a property tax proposal in December that would have funded an animal shelter in the county. Advocates have been trying to get one implemented for over a decade.

"What we're trying to do is move forward in 2019,” Donna Clawson said.

Clawson, President of the Friends of the Faulkner County Animal Shelter, said last month’s vote to not build an animal shelter was a letdown.

"The quorum court has to look at the big picture. They have a lot of things to do. But it was very disappointing,” she said.

But she said now it is time to start thinking about what to do next. Monday's meeting in Conway brought up ideas about how to possibly sponsor a shelter or animals that are being fostered.

"We need volunteers and we also need fosters,” Clawson said. "There's always fundraisers and grant writings, there's things like that we can try to do and I think that's an interest we're going to try to do."

Mayflower and Conway are the only two cities in the entire county that have animal shelters. This means that if an animal is found outside of city limits, technically animal control officers are not obligated to capture them.

“It's putting a huge burden on a small town like Mayflower,” Jennifer Massey said.

Massey, Mayflower city council member and PIO for Paws and Whiskers City, said too often people are dumping their dogs in Mayflower. The shelter often gets calls too outside of city limits.

"It's making our animal control officers work more hours for what they're getting paid for and we have to rely on donations for food because we don't have the funding for it,” she said.

Massey also said both shelters are already overcrowded and can not really handle any more animals.

"There's nowhere for these animals to go. They're either going to pick them up in the city or they're going to get run over,” Massey said.

If you have a suggestion or donation for the friends of the Faulkner County Animal Shelter, you can visit their Facebook page or mail a tax-deductible donation to:

Friends of the Faulkner County Animal Shelter

PO Box 10380

Conway, AR, 72034

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